By Bob Allen
A Kentucky lawmaker is proposing a bill to postpone the start of the school year in hopes that more students will travel to visit a creationist theme park under construction in his district.
State Sen. Damon Thayer (R-Georgetown) announced recently that next year he and Sen. Chris Girdler (R-Somerset) plan to file legislation next year that would prohibit schools from starting any earlier than the Monday closest to Aug. 26, saying a longer summer vacation would boost the state’s tourism.
Girdler, a member of the First Baptist Church of Somerset, Ky., cites lost revenue from a water park located in his district. Thayer, a Catholic who in the past worked in the horse racing industry, says his district stands to gain from the Ark Encounter theme park being built by Answers in Genesis, a Christian ministry that already operates a Creation Museum about 45 minutes away.
“Grant County is set to become a major tourist destination due to the presence of the Ark,” Thayer told the local newspaper. “But there won’t be many families from Kentucky visiting in August if we continue with the current calendar.”
Last year the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet declined to give as much as $18 million in tax rebates to Ark Encounter, a theme attracting featuring a life-sized replica of Noah’s Ark according to the dimensions recorded by cubit in Genesis 6.
Answers in Genesis responded with a lawsuit in February alleging religious discrimination. Americans United for Separation of State asked to intervene in the case on behalf of four Kentucky taxpayers — two of them Baptist ministers — who say they don’t want their tax dollars used to subsidize a religious ministry.
“It is long past time for Kentucky’s lawmakers to stop assisting the Ark Park in every way possible, because it is a First Amendment issue when government props up a project with a clear religious mission,” Simon Brown of Americans United for Separation of Church and State commented in recent blog.
Opponents, including some educators, say education shouldn’t take a back seat to tourism and that the proposal would undermine local control of school boards.
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