Another Dover Area School Board member announced her resignation Monday night over the intelligent design controversy.

After failing to get a second on a motion from the board to revisit the decision that led to the theory being taught in ninth-grade biology, resigning member Angie Yingling said, "It's wrong, it's all wrong."

While requesting her motion, Yingling told the board that the changes needed to be made to avoid lawsuits that the board "knows" are coming.

"We've got our point across to the local, state and national levels," she said to the board. "But taxpayers have told me they can't afford any lawsuits over this."

The board did not immediately accept her resignation. But after the board announced it was going into an executive session, Richard Nilsen, the district's superintendent, asked Yingling to reconsider.

Before the session started, Yingling said she would consider the request but only if the board would assure her that the next time she made the motion to revisit the issue, someone would second it and bring the matter to a vote.

She also said that after thinking about it, she regrets voting Oct. 18 to add intelligent design to the student curriculum. But she said she did so because many on the board pressured her by accusing her of being an atheist and un-Christian.

Just before the executive session began, Dover Area parent Cynthia Sneath implored Yingling to stand her ground and remain on the board.

"Bring

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(the motion) up at every meeting," she told Yingling. "We need a voice of opposition up there."

But Yingling wouldn't commit one way or the other.

"I feel as though I've been misled throughout this whole thing," Yingling said. "All I wanted was for the 'Pandas' book to be made available as a reference book. Not all of this."

The book Yingling referred to is "Of Pandas and People," published by the Foundation for Thought and Ethics. The book uses intelligent design to suggest that all things were created by a "designer," who many interpret to mean God or other divinity. Critics say the theory violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

Bill Miller, a union spokesman for the Dover Area Education Association, said it was unfortunate that the board would not discuss Yingling's motion.

"Her request had merit," he said.

This past weekend, Miller and science department head Bertha Spahr said they would not participate in formulating any answers to intelligent design questions, despite the theory's addition to the curriculum.

They said they would refer the students to the 'Pandas' book or forward questions to the administration and board via the appropriate chain of command.

Yingling followed the board into executive session and remained in the meeting with them for 90 minutes, but did not change her mind on the resignation.