User:Voxhumana/DoverFormatTest

Day 2

(Tammy Kitzmiller was called to testify and was sworn by the courtroom deputy.) COURTROOM DEPUTY: Please be seated and state your full name for the record. THE WITNESS: Tammy Kitzmiller. DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. HARVEY: Q. Please restate your name. A. Tammy Kitzmiller. Q. You're a plaintiff in this action? A. Yes, I am. Q. Ms. Kitzmiller, please tell us where you live. A. (Home address stated, redacted by RationalWiki) Q. And how long have you lived at that address? A. With the exception of the time period between December 2001 and August 2003 I've lived in the Dover school district since 1993. Q. Do you have children? A. Yes, I do. Q. How many children do you have? A. I have two daughters. Q. Please tell us their names, just their first names, and their ages. A. Megan is 17, and Jessica is 15. Q. Do they attend school? A. Yes, they do. Q. Please tell us what school they attend and the grades. A. They're high school. Megan is a senior, and Jessica is a sophomore. Q. So that means that Jessica is in 10th grade right now? A. Yes. Q. In Dover High School, correct? A. Correct. Q. And did Jessica take the biology class when she was in 9th grade? A. Yes, she did. Q. Was that in the 2004-2005 school year? A. Correct. Q. How long have your daughters been attending public school in Dover? A. Since kindergarten. Q. Please just tell us where you went to high school. A. Bermudian Springs. Q. Did you have any formal education past high school? A. No. Q. And please tell us what you do for a living? A. I'm an officer manager for a landscape company.
Q. Ms. Kitzmiller, did there come a time when you learned that the Dover area school district board of directors was considering approval of a biology textbook? A. Yes. That would have been the summer of 2004. Q. Do you remember the month, what month it was? A. I believe it was June. Q. And can you tell us what -- first of all tell us how you learned about it. A. Through the newspapers. Q. Do you specifically remember which newspapers? A. It would either have been the York Dispatch or the York Daily Record. Q. Tell us what you learned. A. There was a question which biology book the school would approve. I also learned that certain board members had a problem with the biology book. There were statements made that it was laced with Darwinism. They also wanted to balance the biology curriculum with creationism. Q. And then did you subsequently learn anything more about the approval of a biology textbook? A. Yes. From what I can recall I remember the books being approved with the exception that they also wanted a supplemental book, "Of Pandas and People," in the classroom.
MR. GILLEN: Your Honor, just for clarification, I want to make sure that we have preserved our standing objection to the hearsay in the newspaper articles. There's testimony about that based on our motions in limine. THE COURT: We'll note the objection and the standing objection as it relates to the newspaper article. It may be in a different context with respect to this witness, so feel free if you want to restate it in a different context, but I'll certainly grant that standing objection per your motion in limine. MR. GILLEN: Thank you, Your Honor.
BY MR. HARVEY: Q. Ms. Kitzmiller, did there come a time when you learned that the board of directors of Dover area school district had changed the biology curriculum? A. Yes. Q. And when did you learn that? A. When the resolution was passed in October of 2004. Q. And what did you learn? A. I learned that they would be reading a statement to the biology class. THE COURT: Let me stop you for a second. I think we're going to have trouble hearing you, and I know that's hard, you probably haven't testified before and you don't want to talk any louder. Why don't you move the microphone just a little bit closer? I'm guessing the people can't here. Try that. You don't have to get right on top of the microphone, that should be all right. You may proceed. MR. HARVEY: Your Honor, may I approach the witness with an exhibit? THE COURT: You may. BY MR. HARVEY: Q. Matt, if you can, please, put it up on the screen. That's P-127. Ms. Kitzmiller, I've handed you what's been marked as P-127. Have you had a chance to look at it? A. Yes. I have seen this at home. Q. Can you tell me what it is? A. Yes. It is a biology curriculum update which was a newsletter that was mailed to residents in the Dover district. Q. Do you know where it was mailed from or who mailed it? A. From the school district. Q. And did you receive it in the mail? A. Yes, I did. Q. And can you tell us, your daughter was in the biology class in January of -- excuse me, 2004, when this segment on evolution was introduced, correct? A. 2005.
Q. Thank you very much. And can you tell us your understanding of how the change to the biology curriculum was implemented in the classroom? A. Yes. The statement that's referenced at the bottom of the curriculum update, an administrator or walked into the classroom -- well, I'm guessing that if there were students that objected or parents that opted their children out, they left the room, and then an administrator walked in and read the statement, leaving no room for questions, answers, and then they left. Q. How do you know what happened? A. My daughter was in the class. She opted out. Q. And do you know why she opted out? A. She didn't want to be singled -- well, she didn't feel she should be singled out, but she also did not feel she needed to be in the classroom if her teacher didn't have to be there. Q. Now, I'd like to know if you can tell us whether you feel that you've been harmed by the actions of the Dover area school district board of directors. A. Absolutely. I feel that they have brought a religious idea into the classroom, and I object to that. I do not think that this is good science. There seems to be no controversy within the scientific community, and I would think the biggest thing for me as a parent, my 14-year-old daughter had to make the choice whether to stay in the classroom and listen to the statement, be confused, not be able to ask any questions, hear any answer, or she had to be singled out, go out of the classroom and face the possible ridicule of her friends and classmates. MR. ROTHSCHILD: We have no further questions.

THE COURT: Cross examination, Mr. Thompson?

CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. THOMPSON:

Q. Mrs. Kitzmiller, I'm Richard Thompson. I'm representing the defendants in this case. How many school board meetings did you attend in the year 2004?

A. Off the top of my head, I attended in November and December, that probably would have been four.

Q. When is the first time you attended a school board meeting in 2004?

A. It would have been in November.

Q. In November?

A. Yes.

Q. That was after the policy itself was voted on by the school board, is that correct?

A. Correct.

Q. And so you really were not involved or did not hear of the debate that was going on in the school board on that particular policy, personally hear that debate, is that correct?

A. I had no personal knowledge, no.

Q. You had no personal knowledge of it?

A. No.

Q. Now, also most of the information that you just gave your counsel was based upon your reading of accounts in the newspapers, is that correct?

A. That's correct.

Q. And so you don't know whether those accounts were accurate or not as they reflected the debate of the school board when they were determining whether to implement the policy or not, is that correct?

A. I would have to say that's correct.

Q. Okay. Now, you were referred to a newsletter that you got in February 2005, is that correct?

A. Correct.