Darby, Montana School Board

From Scienticity

Revision as of 23:30, 31 October 2005

Darby, Montana is a small, rural town (area: 0.5 mi²) on US Route 93, which follows the Bitterroot River in the Bitterroot Valley of western Montana. The town is in Ravelli County, Montana, of which Hamiltion is the county seat. Darby is 60 miles southwest of Missoula, not far from the Idaho border. Nearby is the 1.6 million acre Bitterroot National Forest.

Some 800 people live in Darby, and the Darby High School has some 180 students. In 2004, Darby became a central part of the national struggle in the US against religious incursions into public-school science classrooms.

Events

In December 2003, there was a news story in the Ravalli Republic with this simple announcement^[1]:

There's a town meeting scheduled in Darby Wednesday [10 December 2003] from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the junior high gym to discuss the merits of teaching the concept [of Intelligent Design creationism].

According to presenter Curtis Brickley -- variously described as "an intelligent design supporter"^[2], a "local Baptist minister"^[3], and a "Darby parent"^[4] -- "The meeting is all about teaching origin science objectively." Intelligent Design creationism is principally advocated by the Discovery Institute, a conservative Christian think tank based in Seattle, WA^[5]; Brickley's association with the Discovery Insitute is not known at this time.

The same news story also noted that

An attorney from the Montana School Boards Association advised Darby school officials that they shouldn't adopt curriculum that isn't in line with state standards.

The attorney's advice was not to be followed.

More than 200 people turned out for the presentation, which was described by a local reporter^[6] two days later:

Brickley gave a two-hour, high-tech presentation on intelligent design, a biological origin theory that proposes that the intricate complexity of plants and animals is evidence that life could only be the work of an intelligent designer, not evolution. He's asked the Darby School Board to consider adding the ideas of intelligent design to its high school science curriculum, a step that would thrust Darby in the national spotlight of science education. [...] Darby School Board Chairwoman Gina Schallenberger said she liked what she heard at the presentation, and fellow trustee Doug Banks said he fully supports adopting intelligent design in the school's science curriculum.

Oddly, despite his presentation designed to arouse popular sentiment against evolution,^[7]

Brickley doesn’t feel that the general public is prepared to properly debate the merits of intelligent design. “I try to avoid arguments because for 90 percent of the public, the dialogue is over their heads. I let the experts debate it and try to broker the information coming out of the intelligent design camp,” Brickley said.
[...]
Since Montana is a local control state, school boards have plenty of leeway in setting curriculum. In Darby, a simple majority of the five-person board has to vote for the policy change in two separate meetings for it to take effect, regardless of what the mainstream scientific community might think.
[...]
Since Brickley’s presentation, a group called Ravalli County Citizens for Science has also formed. The group is composed of parents concerned and outraged over the proposed policy change.

“This is a politically and religiously motivated action that seeks to place a religious agenda ahead of the interests of students. Students will be less prepared for college if this policy affects them,” parent and RCCS coordinator Rod Miner said.

At that time, the RCCS announced a public meeting for the following January 2004) to present their support for maintaining their school's science standards. Gina Schallenberger, the chair of the five-member board, agreed to table the policy change until after that meeting. Reportedly, the RCCS had also announced that it would consider sueing the school board, if necessary, to protect the science standards.

In an end-of-the year open letter^[8] John Schneeberger, the coordinator for the Bitterroot Human Rights Alliance, Brickley's presentation was described as "slick and convincing, but wholly disingenuous and misleading." In his letter he says:

This latest effort by creationists to promote their religious concept about human origins in high school science classes is the most sophisticated so far and is part of a nationwide campaign [....] The Darby School trustee and board chair Gina Shallenberger apparently will introduce a proposal to adopt an "Objective Origins" policy at the January 5 meeting. "Objective Origins" would change instruction on evolutionary theory in biology classes to discussions of the theory coupled with critiques provided by organizations such as the Discovery Institute.

The policy change was evidently introduced and tabled as promised, and the Darby Junior High gymnasium was again the meeting place, this time on Wednesday, 21 January, for a presentation by Allan Gishlick of the National Center for Science Education,^[9] as promised by the RCCS. As reported,

The policy calls for students to "assess evidence for and against theories," and "to analyze the scientific strengths and weaknesses of existing scientific theories, including the theory of evolution." Although the policy doesn't spell out what other theories would be included in science curriculum and courts have emphatically prohibited the teaching of creationism in public schools, the objective origins curriculum inevitably will include discussions of intelligent design....

Reaction

Status

Notes

1. ^ Jenny Johnson, "Where did we come from?: Darby meeting to discuss teaching intelligent design", Ravalli Republic [MT], 9 December 2003.
2. ^ Loc. cit.
3. ^ James Glanz, "Montana Creationism Bid Evolves Into Unusual Fight", New York Times, 29 February 2004; reproduced in "Montana Creationism-Whole town gets involved in debate".
4. ^ Jenny Johnson, "Intelligent design presentation draws hundreds", Ravalli Republic [MT], 12 December 2003.
5. ^ "Discovery Institute, Wikipedia, date on article when accessed: 23 October 2005.
6. ^ Johnson, 12 December 2003, op. cit.
7. ^ Josh Mahan, "Changing Courses: Engineering Intelligent Design in Darby Schools", Missoula Independent, 23 December 2003.
8. ^ John Schneeberger, "An open letter to the Darby School Board -- December 31, 2003", Ravalli Republic [MT], 5 January 2004.
9. ^ Jenny Johnson, "Opponents of origin theories plan presentation", Ravalli Republic [MT], 20 January 2004.

1. ^ Michael Moore, "Darby couple readies 'objective origins' lawsuit", The Missoulian [MT], apparently 3 March 2004.
2. ^ Rod Miner and Martha Stomberg, "Objective origins policy will be challenged", Ravalli Republic [MT], 4 March 2004.

Other Sources

• American Association for the Advancement of Science, "Science & Policy Program -- Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion: Montana", c. July 2004.
• Associated Press, "Darby rejects 2 candidates backing 'objective origins'", Billings Gazette [MT], 6 May 2004.

• "Darby, Montana Detailed Profile", city-data.com, c. 2004.
• "Darby, Montana Community Profile", ePodunk.com, c. 2004.
• "Northwest Montana: Bitterroot Valley", Go Northwest, c. 2005.
• "Darby High School -- Darby Montana", Public School Review, c. 2005.