By Sylvie Belmond   belmond@theacorn.com

The debate over evolution versus intelligent design was rekindled at a recent Ventura County Board of Education meeting when a school official and a parent expressed concerns over the content of a new seventh-grade science textbook.

Trustees were considering whether "Focus on California Life Science," published by Pearson Prentice Hall, should be used in the courts and in community schools administered by the county board of education.

The publication was selected by a committee of teachers and administrators. It's one of eight new state-approved seventh-grade science schoolbooks available.

County school officials tabled the motion to approve "Focus on California Life Science" because of a written objection to the book, said said trustee Marty Bates, who represents Thousand Oaks and surrounding communities on the county board of education.

In a detailed five-page letter addressed to county school officials, Carl Olson, a San Fernando Valley resident whose daughter attends Simi Valley High School, said the book has inaccuracies.

"Olson spends a lot of time reviewing textbooks for accuracy purposes," said Charles Weiss, Ventura County superintendent of schools.

Although Olson wasn't contesting the issue of creation versus evolution, according to Bates, others said they were seeking a "more balanced" text.

The delay provides an opportunity to review other available science textbooks to see if they're more balanced, said trustee Ron Matthews, a committed Christian.

The proposed book generally indicates that evolution is a theory, but, according to Matthews, it crosses the line on page 262, where it takes evolution out of the realm of theory and presents it as fact.

School textbooks should present both creationist and evolutionary concepts because the lack of faith in public schools has created a spiritual vacuum, Matthews said.

"But since God was taken out of schools there has been a downward spiral," Matthews said. Atheism is also a faith, he said, yet schools are basing their curriculum on that principle.

Public schools shouldn't profess one belief over another and they shouldn't discount something just because it comes out of a Judeo-Christian or other religious belief, said County Supervisor Peter Foy.

"Evolution is about survival of the fittest- that's just the nature of things- but worms don't evolve into dogs," Foy said, indicating that sort of evolutionary path is not proven.

"Education officials are supposed to provide students with all the tools necessary to make their own decision and allow the students to be exposed to a wide range of opinions and ideas," said Chris Valenzano, who represents Camarillo and several other cities on the board of education.

Valenzano suggested that students be given the opportunity to take an elective course that reviews religious literature so they can pursue that information voluntarily.

Science and religion are not in conflict--''they are spheres of our life," said Rabbi Ted Riter of Temple Adat Elohim, a reform synagogue that serves about 700 families in Thousand Oaks.

Most of the Jewish community don't want theology taught in schools, Riter said.

"We want to see a separation of religion and government," he said. Schools should only teach evolution because creation is a theology--not a science. Religion should be taught at home, in churches, synagogues and mosques, the rabbi said.

Evolution is based on scientific facts, Riter said.

"Although it's not provable because none of us were here then, the evidence points in that direction and that's where scientific theories come from and they seem to hold," Riter said.

According to the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the campaign to challenge the theory of evolution in public schools and in courts to promote one religious view in public school curricula is dangerous, especially to those who cherish true religious liberty.

"It's a good philosophical discussion for students, but sciences classes are for proven facts that students can verify," said Simi Valley School Board member Rob Collins, a former teacher and school administrator in Simi Valley who also served on the Ventura County Board of Education. He now teaches political science at College of the Canyons and Moorpark College.

"You can't teach a nonscientific inquiry as a science," said Weiss. All science books mention evolution because it's a state requirement, he said.

"Evolution is not a theory--it's a process. Fossil records prove that evolution is true," said Clint Harper, an agnostic who teaches physics and astronomy at Moorpark College. The college has been hosting a yearlong series of events about science and religion to spark debate.

Often, that debate can be highly provocative.

"When comparing science to religion, I tell my students: Religion gave you 9/11, takes your money every Sunday and wastes part of your weekend . . . science gave you antibiotics, iPods and cellphones. Take your pick," Harper said.

The county office of education serves about 500 students in special education and another 400 students who are incarcerated or who were expelled from their former schools. The office also manages the Regional Occupational Program and provides services to 20 local school districts.

County school officials don't dictate curriculum for local school districts, said Weiss. "The county board does not override local school boards," he said.