James Irwin Charter Middle School has removed a portion of its science curriculum featuring creationism after receiving a letter from the national nonprofit the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

The foundation, whose work centers on the constitutional principle of separation of church and state and nontheism, wrote a letter to the charter school on March 5 after receiving a complaint from a parent over religious instruction at the school.

After receiving an email from a school science teacher, who stated that an eighth-grade science class teaches intelligent design and evolution “per the guidelines in the charter of our school,” the parent contacted the foundation, saying they feel that James Irwin “is not trustworthy” and that they are “now questioning the quality of my (child’s) education.”

“I feel angry that religion is being forced on children and presented as science,” said the anonymous parent in the letter.

Intelligent design is a scientific theory that refutes concepts from natural selection, stating that “certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process.” The theory has been largely tied to creationism, which states that a divine being created the universe, though some supporters have denied the religious associations.

The teacher’s email goes on to detail that they “present both a creationist theory and evolutionist theory regarding natural selection” to present multiple viewpoints and encourage critical thinking.

In her letter, Samantha Lawrence, the foundation’s staff attorney, referenced both the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and multiple U.S. court rulings outlining the separation of public schools and religious instruction and requested that James Irwin cease teaching this material.

“By teaching students creationism and intelligent design and presenting it as co-equal to evolution, JICMS will indoctrinate its students,” Lawrence wrote. “Teaching creationism will impermissibly coerce students to endure religious indoctrination in their public school, even if the science curriculum attempts to present creationism as equally acceptable to evolution.

“Additionally, JICMS incorporating creationism into its curriculum signals clear favoritism toward religion over nonreligion and Christianity over all other faiths. The school’s actions needlessly marginalize and exclude those students, such as our complainant’s child, who are a part of the 49% of Generation Z who are religiously unaffiliated.”

In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that teaching creationism in public schools violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, since it favors a particular religion.

In response to the letter, James Irwin Charter Schools CEO Rob Daugherty informed the foundation on March 10 that school officials reviewed their curriculum and confirmed that intelligent design had been referenced in the science class sporadically over the years.

He went on to note that this has now ceased and that it will not be taught at any of the schools.

“When I found out, I went down to the school and told the principal, ‘We need to take this out,’ and that’s where it stopped,” Daugherty told The Gazette.

In an email to The Gazette, Lawrence said the foundation receives reports of public schools teaching creationism or intelligent design “at least a handful of times each year” and that they range from schools or districts implementing materials to individual teachers doing so independently.

In the case of James Irwin, Daugherty said the material was the result of previous administrative leadership conversations suggesting that intelligent design was science, but that it wouldn’t be explicitly taught. The material that has since been removed was a single slide that had been added to supplement textbooks and the teacher likely pulled it from the school’s archived materials.

He added that while the parent initially approached the teacher about her concerns, the letter from the foundation was the first time he became aware of the instructional material.  

“We wouldn’t be here right now if I had heard about it then (at the beginning),” Daugherty said.