By MICKEY POWELL - Bulletin Staff Writer
Martinsville High School’s JROTC program has turned students into leaders, or at least helped them achieve their full potential in life, during the past 25 years, according to retired Army Lt. Col. David King.
King, who oversees the program, said he remembers a few students who “I never thought would make it through” JROTC due to problems such as a lack of discipline. But “something clicked” in them, he said, and upon seeing them later in life, he realized they had turned their lives around.
That is why the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps is valuable, he said.
But city students may not be able to participate in JROTC after this school year. The program is eliminated in the Martinsville schools’ proposed budget for fiscal 2010, which will start July 1.
City schools officials have slashed spending — including the elimination of more than 26 jobs — due to a projected loss of about $1.1 million in state funds as a result of state revenues being lower than expected.
Officials found it hard to calculate how much it costs to offer JROTC at the high school for a year. The Army fully covers some expenses, such as cadets’ uniforms and other supplies, and partially reimburses the school division for some, such as salaries for King and his assistant, Sgt. Valerie Brooks.
Travis Clemons, the division’s executive director of finance and development, estimated the city ends up spending about $75,000 on the program each year.
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Scholarships for Troops pledges its support to Martinsville's High School.
Scholarships for Troops is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that helps troops and military families access higher education through scholarships, textbooks, laptops and computers.
