The Coatesville Area School Board and Superintendent Richard Como have proposed ending Chester County’s only Air Force Junior ROTC (AFJROTC) program, which is based at CASH, at the end of the school year. This AFJROTC unit has a 35 year history at CASH with years of distinguished honors, military academy appointments, and countless hours of community service. Unless the School Board revisits their decision to cut the AFJROTC program, the cadets currently in the CASH AFJROTC program are in jeopardy of losing eligibility for scholarships, academy nominations, and enlistment pay upgrades. It will be extremely difficult to reinstate this program if it is terminated. Just this month, the AFJROTC PA 771 at Coatesville High School was again honored by the AFJROTC Headquarters with their highest award as a “Distinguished Unit with Merit”. This prestigious award is based on the high caliber of Coatesville’s instructors (in top 10% of AFJROTC nationwide) as well as the Cadets’ performance (top 1% nationwide) and their high level of civic involvement with the school and local community (over 2000 hours of volunteerism so far in 2012). During the April School Board Meeting, a Tentative General Fund Budget, including the termination of the AFJROTC program, was passed by a majority vote. A resolution to make this budget and these cuts permanent is on the agenda for the May 22 School Board Meeting. In response to this urgent situation, cadets, alumni, and parents have joined forces through "Keep PA 771 Alive" a Facebook site and "Friends of PA 771" a community-based group that seeks to partner with the school board, government officials, and private organizations to identify strategies that will retain the unit. Concerned citizens are invited and encouraged to make legislators and School Board members aware of their support for continuing the AFJROTC program at CASH by signing this petition and attending the school board Committee Meeting on May 8 as well as the School Board Regular Meeting on May 22. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! Leave Comments showing what the program means to you, your children, your community! Thanks! {{{{{{You can choose to SKIP the donation request during the process of signing, just X out when it goes to the request page. NO money is necessary to sign and comment!}}}}}

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