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Parent urges Houston County Commission to press school district to keep Rehoboth Navy JROTC program
Summary
At a Houston County Commission meeting, parent Rachel Reneva asked commissioners to speak with the school superintendent to prevent cancellation of the Rehoboth High School Navy JROTC program, citing community service by cadets, possible loss of Army funds and impacts on students' schedules and graduation plans.
Rachel Reneva, a parent and advocate, told the Houston County Commission during the meeting’s public-comment period that she and at least 78 supporters are asking commissioners to contact the school superintendent and urge that the Rehoboth High School Navy JROTC program not be canceled.
Reneva said the cadets provide regular community service — including VFW and American Legion events, park cleanup in Taylor, Miracle League support, Toys for Tots and peanut festival parking — and that canceling the program would harm students who rely on year-long continuity in the course. “You grow students through ROTC programs all year long,” she said. “Having half a semester is not going to benefit the kids.”
Reneva told commissioners she had seen a reference to roughly $500,000 that “goes between Houston County Commission and the school board” but said she was not certain of that figure’s source. She also said Rehoboth currently has about $70,000 in Army-provided funds in its program budget and warned that unused funds could be forfeited back to the Department of the Navy if not properly spent. “If it’s not spent … they have to return it to the Department of the Navy,” she said.
Reneva described administrative and funding obstacles she said the program faces: she said Army headquarters has told local contacts that no new Army JROTC funding is available because the service is “oversaturated by 11 programs” nationally and that openings would require other programs to close before one could open locally. She said the area commander, Jonathan Shaw, had not immediately canceled the Rehoboth unit and would wait to see whether community efforts change the district’s decision; she said the superintendent’s deadline for cancellation is June 4.
Reneva said the cancellation would disrupt students’ schedules and could affect graduation timing for seniors who have taken JROTC for multiple years. She also urged commissioners to ask the superintendent to delay action for a year or review alternatives.
Commissioners did not take a formal vote on the matter; the chair said the commission would “take it under advisement.” No formal direction to staff or a motion asking the superintendent to act was recorded in the meeting minutes provided at the meeting.
The commission did not debate the substance of Army funding rules at the meeting; Reneva identified the funding constraints and the potential administrative deadline as the reasons she sought the commission’s assistance.
