Over Memorial Day weekend, the state education department asked the public for feedback on the draft of new science standards, but its website crashed.
Dan Godzich, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Education, said the technical difficulties were not due to the number of public comments submitted, but instead insufficient staffing to maintain an outdated system over a holiday weekend.
"We apologize for any inconvenience. But it was like, was it a little more volume than we usually get? Yes. It's frankly a little embarrassing that it crashed," said Godzich.
The comment period now has been extended until Thursday at noon. The draft of the new science standards includes Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas’ proposal to teach intelligent design alongside evolution in science classrooms.
