Hollister
– Many parents and community members are displeased with San
Benito High School’s decision to cut the Navy Junior ROTC classes
and are planning to bring their complaints before the school board
tonight in an effort to salvage the program.
Hollister – Many parents and community members are displeased with San Benito High School’s decision to cut the Navy Junior ROTC classes and are planning to bring their complaints before the school board tonight in an effort to salvage the program.
San Benito High School officials announced the program would be canceled for the 2007-2008 school year, citing inadequate enrollment and the fact that both instructors had resigned, on top of financial concerns.
“I’ve raised three children and I have six grandchildren, and never have I seen anything as wonderful as this program,” said Mary Rocha, whose grandson, Mitchell Morehouse, was in the program last year. “It just wouldn’t be right to take it away.”
NJROTC Booster Club President Caroline Garcia-Haro said she and 50 or so fellow parents and cadets would attend tonight’s school board meeting and try to convince school officials the program is worth saving.
“Every time I go to an open house or something like that, my son’s teachers can’t say enough good things about the program,” she said. “It’s a positive, clean atmosphere where the kids can be proud of who they are, and there isn’t enough of that.”
The NJROTC is a program sponsored by the Navy. It’s designed to impart the values of patriotism and good citizenship upon students and encourage them to finish high school, seek a college education and stay away from gang activity. While it does provide information to students considering a career in the Navy, and students who enlist with an NJROTC background have a few advantages over other sailors, finding recruits is not the main goal of the program.
Retired Navy Cmdr. Dean Whetstine, one of the NJROTC instructors, said earlier this month that he would be willing to return to SBHS if an instructor were needed.
The Navy kicks in about $50,000 to subsidize the program, but staffing costs last year topped $160,000 – more than double the support funds from the Navy.
“We have no instructors; we’ve been put on probation from the Navy. At this point it just isn’t viable to continue the program,” SBHS Superintendent Jean Burns Slater said. “We love the program, but we can’t continue it if the sign-ups aren’t there.”
The program was put on enrollment “probation” from the Navy, as fewer than 100 students were enrolled. Due to these low numbers, class sizes became as small as seven or nine in each period, according to district Director of Business and Operations Jim Koenig.
“If the program had to be canceled, they should have given parents and students an opportunity to make it work, instead of dropping it over summer vacation,” said Wendy Sinclair-Brown, a therapist who says many of her teenage patients have benefited from the NJROTC program. “If they were cutting the football or cheerleading team, I bet they would have done it differently.”
Local resident Richard Herrera, member of the American Legion and local Veterans of Foreign Wars, said both organizations will suffer if the NJROTC is disbanded.
“We work very closely with those kids,” he said. “They help us out and volunteer a lot of their time, as well as being good role models for the rest of the community.”
The program’s supporters say that if they are given enough time, they and the cadets can work together to revive the program, perhaps on a smaller scale with just one instructor.
“Those kids work with the fire department, the veterans of foreign wars, the local wineries,” Rocha said. “If its about money, the community can raise the money.”
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected].
