School board cancels program on creationism

By The Associated Press

03.01.02

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WAYNESBURG, Pa. — A rural school board voted to cancel a student assembly with a "creation science evangelist" after the American Civil Liberties Union threatened to sue.

The West Greene School Board voted 6-3 yesterday to cancel a March 25 presentation by evangelist Steve Grohman, but left the possibility that Grohman could speak to students after school hours or in another venue.

The board made its decision after meeting in private for more than an hour.

Board members had voted in January to allow Grohman to speak during school hours. Student attendance at the event was to be voluntary.

The ACLU sent the district a letter this week saying it would sue school officials if the presentation was held. Grohman has argued evolution is a sham and teaches that the Biblical account of creation is accurate.

"Courts have repeatedly ruled that teaching creationism as science in public schools violates the separation of church and state, which is required by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution," the ACLU wrote in the letter.

School board officials said they did not want to put the district, located about 40 miles south of Pittsburgh, in a position where it had to fight a lawsuit.