By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper.
Rio Rancho students will get a UFO club at RioTech and twice as many UFO lectures after the school board expanded its partnership with the National UFO Historical Records Center. The board also wants proof the deal helps kids learn.
The Rio Rancho Public Schools board voted 4-1 to amend its June 2024 agreement with the center, which opened in two portable buildings at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary. The amendment adds one classroom at RioTech, the district’s career and technical education center. It raises the center’s major lectures from six to 12 a year, requires the center to start a student club at RioTech and directs the center to follow education standards listed in the amendment. The five-year agreement’s length does not change.
Board President Amanda Galbraith made the motion, calling the archive unique and saying she’d like a report on results at the end of the school year. Board member Stephanie Smith said she was “back and forth” but wants to see what students actually do in the club. Vice President Seth Muller and Secretary Rebecca Murray also voted yes.
Superintendent Robert Dodd said staff will return with a way to measure the center’s effect on learning and engagement this school year. He said the district and the center are also seeking other outside partners for the center. The district isn’t endorsing the center’s positions on UFOs, he said. “It’s education. It’s not endorsement.”
Photo by Roberto E. Rosales for the Paper
Board member Michael Berry cast the only no vote. He said the board never asked for measurable outcomes in the original deal and has measured no benefits “except for, to be frank, vibes.” He said he believes the work may be good but asked why a school district should be the archive’s steward. He also worried the sign could lead neighbors to assume the district researches UFOs and asked what standard the board uses to accept similar pitches. Berry said he would have voted yes if the amendment required curriculum oversight and evidence of benefit.
Michael Baker, RRPS chief of operations, said the county is paying about $20,000 for scanning equipment that would go in RioTech office space. He said a potential Pentagon contract would have the center digitize records, and if it lands, the student club could lead to paid internships. Berry doubted it, saying the Pentagon would have moved faster if it wanted the records.
Baker said the center has given about 25 lectures at middle and high schools. Students haven’t visited the center outside its open house, he said, but teachers have toured it and plan to bring classes this year.
Baker said the district has a draft report from a community planning session for the center and will share the final version with the board.