Winchester highlights CTE growth, explores JROTC at Hanley High

Winchester Public Schools officials reviewed the division’s career and technical education (CTE) programs and described plans to continue studying whether to add an Army Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) program at John Hanley High School.

CTE presenter Katie Lockhart told the school board that "career and technical education is for everyone," and outlined growth in courses, work-based learning and industry credentials that county leaders say prepare students for a range of postsecondary options.

Lockhart said Winchester offers CTE sequences from grades 6–12 at Daniel Morgan Intermediate, Daniel Morgan Middle, John Hanley High School and the Innovation Center and that 22 industry credentials are available to students. "Last year, our students took 1,214 different credential tests," she said, and the division currently employs 17 students as paid co-ops and interns aligned with their coursework.

The presentation cited a March 28 Shenandoah Valley Career Showcase that drew about 370 students from Winchester and Frederick County and roughly 32 business partners. Lockhart credited local employers and the work-based learning coach, Sarah Weinstein, with building partnerships such as job shadows, paid internships and a district SkillsUSA carpentry competition whose winners will advance to states.

On JROTC, Lockhart said a task force is assessing feasibility and described program requirements and constraints. She summarized supports the Army provides if a division is approved — curriculum, equipment, cadet uniforms, travel and partial instructor salary — and described mandatory conditions: two instructors initially, a minimum cohort-size requirement evaluated after three years, and required indoor/outdoor drill space. "The military will supplement the base salary, but only for 11 months, and we're required to maintain that for 12 months," Lockhart said.

School leaders also reported the division administered the ASVAB career-exploration test to juniors and opt-in seniors; 67% of juniors took it. Lockhart said ASVAB results feed the new "3 E" framework the commonwealth is using to measure enrollment, employment and enlistment outcomes, and that House Bill 98 allows divisions to count JROTC toward some physical-education requirements if they choose.

Resident Bob Ryan, who said Superintendent Van asked him to speak, urged the board to pursue Army JROTC and described his son's path from JROTC to a college ROTC scholarship and Army service. "The army would pay for 50% of the instructors, uniforms, awards, transportation. You get computers, TVs, everything," Ryan told the board.

Board members asked about logistics: start year (programs would begin with ninth grade and build to a four-year cohort), whether ROTC courses would supplant existing requirements (Lockhart said ROTC would be a stand-alone sequence that could, if chosen, supplant only the PE 9–10 requirement), enrollment thresholds and instructor numbers. Dr. Tejo urged surveying younger students who would actually take the course in coming years; Lockhart said the division plans further outreach.

Lockhart said a student survey of grades 9–11 produced about 480 respondents and indicated roughly 30% interest among those students (about 140; Lockhart described this as an approximate figure). Parent survey responses were described as broadly supportive, with interest in leadership development, character building, career exploration and physical fitness, though some parents cited concerns about costs and program leadership.

The board did not vote on creating a JROTC program at the meeting. Lockhart said the next steps would be a full application to the military and further facility/specifications work; she cautioned that placement on the military's approval list can take time, and that, if accepted, it may be one to two years before a program could begin.

Clocking Winchester’s stated CTE outcomes and a potential JROTC program together, Lockhart framed both as part of the district’s goal to give students multiple pathways into employment, enrollment or enlistment.

The board did not adopt any formal action on JROTC at this meeting; members instead asked for more information and affirmed staff should continue feasibility work and community outreach.