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December 19, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
The Cobb County Board of Education has reached an
agreement with plaintiffs to end a lawsuit over stickers addressing
evolution that were placed in science textbooks. After more than four
years the agreement brings to conclusion the legal action taken against
the school district by Cobb citizen Jeffrey Selman in 2002.
In January 2005, Judge Clarence Cooper ruled the
stickers unconstitutional and ordered them removed from the science
textbooks. The stickers were removed later that summer. Earlier this
year, a federal appeals court vacated Judge Cooper’s decision and
remanded the case to the lower court.
“We are very pleased to reach this agreement and end
the lawsuit,” said Cobb County Board of Education Chair Dr. Teresa
Plenge. “After the 11th Circuit Court vacated the decision, we faced the
distraction and expense of starting all over with more legal actions and
another trial. With this agreement, it is done, and we now have a clean
slate going into the New Year.”
Under the agreement, the District will not attempt to
place the same, or similar, stickers in textbooks again. In return,
plaintiffs have agreed to end all legal action against the school
district. In a separate agreement, the District has agreed to pay
$166,659, which represents a portion of the plaintiff’s legal fees.
“Appealing the lower court ruling was the right
decision by the school board because that ruling was incorrect,” said
Dr. Plenge. “The Board maintains that the stickers were constitutional,
but, at the same time, the Board clearly sees the need to put this
divisive issue behind us. There will be no stickers in textbooks, and,
as always, we will continue to provide Cobb County students a curriculum
that follows national and state standards in teaching science and the
theory of evolution.”
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