Thank you for your email and your support of the JROTC program at Fayette County High School. I am sure that our instructors appreciate you speaking up on their behalf. Please know that my decision was not an easy one and it was made only after seeking other alternatives and having conversations with the instructors.
As you may not be aware, the JROTC program currently occupies two CTAE lab spaces in our building, a lab that formerly housed our architectural drawing and design program as well as a lab that housed the broadcasting program. Those two programs were eliminated in the past as student enrollment declined and as faculty members were eliminated due to budget constraints.
At that time, there were several empty classrooms in the building and so existing programs spread out and claimed available space. JROTC assumed those two adjacent spaces and occupied more space in our school than any other program.
Today our school is increasing in student enrollment and we are adding 7 new teachers and several new programs to our school for next year, and so now, space is at a premium.
We resurrected the Broadcasting program last year with a special education teacher teaching one class of broadcasting. Given our proximity to Pinewood Studios, a viable broadcasting program is very important for our students.
For next year, the teacher will transition into a full time CTAE teacher and will teach multiple sections of broadcasting to over 100 students. Currently, the JROTC program uses the architecture lab to teach the JROCT curriculum and the broadcasting space exclusively for rifle team.
The space that was being used for the rifle team was designed as a dedicated broadcasting space with a built in production studio and sound room. Wiring for stage lighting, light apparatuses, and acoustical treatments on the wall are present in the production facility. A dedicated sound room is available with windows to the production facility for the audio production of the broadcast. Lab space for high end Macintosh computers is available and already wired for those computers.
To try to replicate that space somewhere else would require major construction and equipment that would cost the school system thousands of dollars. Of course, as a good steward of taxpayer money, I cannot ask for a new space to be constructed when a viable space is already present in the building.
When I spoke with the JROTC instructors about how they used the broadcasting space, they indicated that it was not used an an instructional space, but rather a practice space for the rifle team involving 10 students.
As the principal of the school, I have to make decisions for the greater good and I simply can not justify keeping the space for an extra-curricular 10-member rifle team when I also have over 100 students needing the space (designed for broadcasting) for the broadcasting class.
The remaining instructional space for the JROTC classes is more than adequate with 2 large classroom spaces, 2 offices, and several large storage areas. The remaining space is still one of the largest facilities occupied by any program at FCHS.
I looked for other spaces in our building that would be adequate for the rifle team, but given the growth of the school, there is not a room with adequate space available.
I am not opposed to supporting Langford and Bell looking for other spaces off campus to accommodate the rifle team and I will support their search if my intervention is necessary. In no way am I trying to eliminate a viable program in our school, but how that program is accomplished may have to change given the overall needs of the school,
Again, thank you for your email and for considering the information I have provided concerning my decision.
Have a nice summer,
Dan Lane, principal
Fayette County High School
Fayetteville, Ga.
