On Oct. 11, the JROTC Alternative Program Committee met with the district’s Curriculum Committee to request a one-year extension. The JROTC program is scheduled to end in June 2008.

The program was originally cancelled last November when the Board of Education voted 4-2 in favor of ending the program due to complaints that JROTC was a recruiting program.

“The Curriculum Committee seemed to agree with the idea of extending the program for another year,” JROTC Colonel Doug Bullard said. “It is now up to a board member or the superintendent to submit a resolution.”

The JROTC Alternative Program Committee, otherwise known as the Task Force, was appointed by the District Operation and Instructional Support to create an alternative program to JROTC. The Task Force has been “meeting and studying possible replacement programs,” Bullard said. They are looking for an alternative that will have the key elements of JROTC. These elements include: “leadership, physical wellness, global awareness, communication skills, critical thinking, and decision making,” according to Bullard. “The Task Force is continuing to look at ideas but so far we haven’t found a specific program,” Bullard said. “In all likelihood we’re going to have to develop a curriculum that is some mix of the existing programs. Members include students and principals from Balboa High School and Lincoln High School as well as JROTC instructors and parents from Lincoln and Lowell.

According to SFUSD Communications Director Gentle Blythe, the Curriculum Committee is “looking into alternative programs to Physical Education and other (programs) that are part of enrichment programs.”

“It is likely that (the one-year extension) recommendation will be accepted” by the Curriculum Committee, Blythe said. The extension will give the Task Force more time to create an alternative program.

Senior Lowell Girls Drill Team Commander and JROTC member Jenna Mariano, however, doesn’t think that an alternative program will be found. It is not possible for an alternate program to include programs specific to JROTC, such as both Boys’ and Girls’ Drill Team and Drum Corps, according to Mariano.

The district and the military each pay $800,000 in program costs to schools that have JROTC. One of the key concerns is “how much resources (the replacement program) is going to take and how much will it cost,” Bullard said. According to Blythe, “there is no other source of funding identified” for the replacement program.

Many students involved in JROTC say they are worried about the creation of an alternative program. “You can’t replace it,” Mariano said. “JROTC teaches you a lot about life skills like leadership and dedication. The cancellation is unnecessary. This program has been around for almost a century.”

Junior JROTC member Natalie Chu agreed. “I feel really disappointed, “ she said. “But I’m happier since (the board) might extend the program and it gives me time to graduate with the program.”

One thousand five hundred to one thousand six hundred students are enrolled in the JROTC program in seven district schools and about 115 of these students go to Lowell. Typically, the program has about 40 freshmen enrolled and half stay until senior year, according to Bullard.