Rio Rancho Public Schools' controversial Science Policy 401 has attracted the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico.

The state ACLU sent an e-mail to about 80 science teachers at the high school, Mid-High and middle schools this month telling them not to be afraid to refuse to discuss or teach intelligent design. Teachers who are disciplined for declining to discuss or teach intelligent design should contact the ACLU.

The letter is in response to policy 401 that some people have interpreted as a tactic to bring Intelligent Design into the classroom. Intelligent Design, or I.D., refers to the belief that a supernatural creator designed the universe. In three of the last four school board meetings since the 3-2 vote in August to approve the policy, visitors have utlized their allotted three minutes for public comment on the subject.

Two people spoke out against the policy Monday. Scotia Kurowski said she was a member of the National Association of Biology Teachers and that "evolution is all that makes sense in biology" and that creationism, commonly referred to these days as Intelligent Design, is "outside the realm of science."Andrew Hewes mentioned Rio Rancho Mayor Jim Owen's 'state of the city' address last week, when he touted the school district as a world-class system. Hewes said he was disappointed in the passage of the policy by the "majority of the board willing to compromise world quality (education)."

The ACLU of New Mexico warned teachers, "Throughout our nation a well-funded and aggressive campaign is underway to dissolve the legal barriers between church and state that have for so long protected our country from religious discrimination" and that the ACLU in New Mexico "is committed to stopping this from occurring.

"We wish to support RRPS science teachers as they struggle to provide their students with a legitimate science education," the e-mail continued, along with an instruction: "Teachers should not be afraid to refuse to discuss or teach intelligent design in their science classes. Any teacher who is disciplined in any way for declining to discuss or teach intelligent design should contact the ACLU immediately."

RRPS Superintendent Dr. Sue Cleveland said she found the ACLU's letter to be deceptive.

"I think the ACLU letter was very misleading because it indicated that we were teaching Intelligent Design and directing our staff to do that," she said. "That's the opposite of what we've told the staff, that we will not be teaching it and they are not to do that, nor are we asking teachers to teach it or lead discussions about it. So I thought the letter they wrote was very misleading.

"Apart from that, no, I really don't have any problem. I mean, I was surprised by it, I guess, more than anything else," Cleveland continued. "I think they know that's not what we were doing.