Veterans and community leaders criticize sudden termination of Avon Park Air Force JROTC instructor

Local veterans and community leaders told the Highlands County School Board on Feb. 11 that the immediate termination of an Air Force Junior ROTC instructor has left the program short staffed and concerned about upcoming inspections.

Kenneth Kirk, a retired U.S. Army colonel and former chairman of the County Veterans Advisory Committee, said Vicki Ray was hired this summer as an Air Force JROTC instructor and was terminated "immediately in January" without prior warnings or a performance‑improvement plan. "She reports that she was never given a warning that termination was a possibility," Kirk said. "There's no due process at all in that."

Kirk and other veterans in the audience said the move destabilizes a program that is hard to staff. He told the board an Air Force inspection was scheduled to occur in weeks and that the termination left the senior instructor to face the review alone. "She was confident, invested and dedicated," Kirk said. "We just threw one out in the middle of the year."

Members of the local veterans’ community who attended — identified in remarks as Bob Brooks (retired Air Force colonel) and Glenn West (retired U.S. Army) — supported Kirk's presentation and warned the board that losing instructors could jeopardize the district’s ability to meet Air Force standards, recruit replacements and maintain the program.

Board members did not take an immediate public action during the meeting. The comments asked for clarification of the rationale for the termination, urged the district to consider alternatives to mid‑year dismissal, and sought assurances the program will be supported through the upcoming inspection.