{"id":973,"date":"2012-05-24T08:48:54","date_gmt":"2012-05-24T12:48:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=973"},"modified":"2012-05-24T08:52:43","modified_gmt":"2012-05-24T12:52:43","slug":"residents-defend-hs-rotc-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=973","title":{"rendered":"Residents defend HS ROTC program"},"content":{"rendered":"

School board considers cutting program to save money as budget crisis looms<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Jamie Richard<\/strong>, Staff Writer, CoatesvilleTimes.com<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

At least 89 Coatesville High School students face the loss of their Air Force ROTC program as the Coatesville Area School District looks for cost-saving measure to close a budget gap.<\/p><\/div>\n

COATESVILLE \u2013 Concerned students, residents and parents spoke out at Tuesday\u2019s school board meeting in favor of keeping the district\u2019s Air Force Junior Reserve Officers\u2019 Training Corps program.<\/p>\n

The board is considering cutting the ROTC program in order save approximately $157,000.\u00a0 According to Board President J. Neil Campbell the board has until the last day of school to make any decisions that involve laying off employees.\u00a0 The last day of school for teachers is June 11, but Campbell hopes to hold a special meeting on June 12 to discuss the budget.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to wait until the last minute\u2026I don\u2019t want to act prematurely and over budget,\u201d said Campbell.<\/p>\n

Parent Safiya Edwards informed the board that they must notify the U.S. Air Force by Jun. 1 if they plan to cut the program.\u00a0 Edwards and other concerned residents hope to start fundraising efforts to save the program, but need to know what the board\u2019s final decision will be.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill you give us the time to seek the necessary funding?\u201d said Edwards.\u00a0 \u201cThe deadline for terminating this program is June 1st.\u00a0 If you\u2019re going to cut it out for next year we need to know ASAP.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Edwards, Coatesville\u2019s program has put in approximately 4,000 hours of community service this year, 40 percent above the national average.\u00a0 She also stated that the program has received recognitions and awards numerous times and is in the top 10 percent of Air Force Junior ROTC programs across the nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need more time to preserve a program that each of you has clearly acknowledged brings tremendous value to the school, the students, the district and the community,\u201d said Edwards.<\/p>\n

There are currently 113 students enrolled in the program and 89 students signed up for next year.\u00a0 According to ROTC instructor Andrew Kraft, more than 1,900 students have gone through the program throughout its 35 years of existence.\u00a0 Kraft said that ROTC program develops professionalism, courage and confidence, students are encouraged by instructors and one another to develop leadership skills and cultivate an interest in community service.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to bore you with a lot of details, but we\u2019re the nudge, we\u2019re the cheerleader, we\u2019re the mentor,\u201d said Kraft.\u00a0 \u201cThis cadet corps is what it\u2019s all about\u2026these students are your future.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

School board considers cutting program to save money as budget crisis looms By Jamie Richard, Staff Writer, CoatesvilleTimes.com COATESVILLE \u2013 Concerned students, residents and parents spoke out at Tuesday\u2019s school board meeting in favor of keeping the district\u2019s Air Force Junior Reserve Officers\u2019 Training Corps program. The board is considering cutting the ROTC program in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[166,51,37,296],"class_list":["post-973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-board-of-education","tag-budget","tag-coatesville-high-school","tag-rotc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}