DENVER (AP) -- Fearing a lawsuit, a school board in a small Colorado town unanimously voted against teaching creationism in science classes.
The Liberty J-4 School Board in the town of Joes, which had voted 5-0 in favor of teaching creationism at an earlier meeting, threw out the proposal in a new vote Tuesday.
The idea was spearheaded by Douglas Sanford, a Baptist minister who is also a member of the school board. Sanford wanted teachers to mention alternative theories such as creationism when explaining the theory of evolution.
Creationism credits the origin of species to God while evolution points to Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection.
Superintendent Todd Bissell told The Associated Press that the threat of litigation from watchdog group Americans United for the Separation of Church and State prompted board members to kill the policy.
``This is the end of it,'' Bissell said.
The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director for the Washington-based watchdog group, said he was pleased by the decision.
``Obviously we're glad that the policy will not be adopted, but I think really this is a victory for good education and respect for the United States Constitution,'' Lynn said.
Brenda Wachter, the wife of school board president Robert Wachter, was disappointed. She said the policy was never about teaching religion in schools but about letting students make an informed decision.
``There are scientific facts that support either theory,'' Wachter said in a telephone interview. ``I don't know what people are so scared of.''
In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that creationism was a religious belief that could not be taught in public schools along with evolution. But the ruling didn't put the debate over creationism to rest.
In 1999, a Kansas school board voted to remove most references to evolution from state standards. Board members eventually were voted out and new members restored evolution in the standards last year.
In Ohio, the state Board of Education is deciding whether to teach alternatives to evolution such as intelligent design, a belief that life was designed by a higher power.
The school district based in Joes, 115 miles east of Denver, serves 102 students in Yuma and Kit Carson counties.