Originally published in Vista.Today.
Written by Ashley Pierce.

Phoenixville Area High School’s Air Force Junior ROTC program might be saved from closure, writes Evan Brandt for The Daily Local News.

Last November, the Air Force informed Phoenixville Schools Superintendent Missy McTiernan that the unit would be dissolved at the end of the school year, as the program had failed to maintain a minimum enrollment of 10 percent of the school population or 100 students, whichever is less.

Phoenixville High School has 1,250+ students and the JROTC unit would need about 65 members to comply with Air Force program rules.

U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan has recently introduced a bipartisan bill to help mid-size schools, such as Phoenixville, meet the cadet enrollment requirements. With current minimum requirements, the JROTC program would have to be one of the highest-enrolled extracurricular activities in the school.

The bill introduced would lower the threshold for the number of students needed to maintain a JROTC program at schools from 100 to 50 students.

“When 23 percent of Air Force JROTC programs are not meeting cadet enrollment requirements, it’s pretty clear the status quo isn’t working,” Houlahan said.

The school board has heard back from the Air Force colonel who oversees the JROTC programs, stating that they will delay the closure of the program for a year, which this legislation is in the works.