Add one more voice to the group of people criticizing the Kansas Board of Education’s debate over evolution and intelligent design.

Lawrence Mayor Boog Highberger told members of the Lawrence Rotary Club during a speech Monday at the Hereford House restaurant that he believed the debate was hurting the state.

“Lawrence has this vision thing down,” Highberger said while talking about the community’s vision. “I wish I could say the same thing about our state board of education. I don’t think some of its members understand the national damage they are doing to our reputation.”

Highberger, who works as an attorney for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said he was not persuaded by the argument that some aspects of nature were so complex that they could only be explained by the presence of an intelligent being that designed the system.

“If we are ever going to build a sustainable education system for our children, we need to embrace complexity,” Highberger said.