The Junior ROTC program in Murray County schools, in place since Jimmy Carter was elected president, was eliminated in a preliminary budget approved to offset a $4 million shortfall.
The move has drawn some fire from some Murray residents, but the program, launched in 1976, is just one in long list of proposed cuts as the beginning of the fiscal year looms, officials said.
PROPOSED BUDGET CUTS* $14,000: Field trips* $4,500: Pest control* $20,000: Dumpster rental* $40,000: Mobile classrooms* $92,432: New Beginnings program* $138,000: Paraprofessional positions* $98,778: Nurse program* $90,000: Graduation coaches* $34,500: Central Office secretary* $43,000: Middle School media paraprofessional* $350,000: General fund* $111,000: Media operations* $100,000: Substitute teacher pay reduction* $36,434: Extended day* $92,369: Extended year* $1,725: System media coordinator* $5,900: ROTC supplements* $1.5 million: Reduction in work force, resignations, retirements and non-renewals* $1 million: Six furlough days* $150,000: Reduction in local supplements* $93,650: General Fund transfer to American Reinvestment and Recovery Act fund* $4.05 million: Total proposed budget cutsSource: Murray County Schools
Retired U.S. Army Master Sgt. Harold Tankersley, the program’s first instructor, said he’s worried that, once the program is gone, it might never be brought back.
“I don’t want them to cut it but, at the same time, I understand why they had to,” Master Sgt. Tankersley said.