This was a conservative area at the height of Republicans' push to teach "intelligent design" in schools instead of evolution. I wouldn't be surprised if this

This was a conservative area at the height of Republicans' push to teach "intelligent design" in schools instead of evolution. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the result of tribalism, or deliberately not teaching certain things to keep parents happy. At the time, parents were sending kids to private schools so they wouldn't be "indoctrinated" into an atheist/scientific agenda with evolution in the curriculum.