Future Of Nearly Century-Old Junior ROTC Program At Hollywood High Remains Uncertain

HOLLYWOOD (CBSLA.com) — A storied program that has been around for almost 100 years will soon run out of money.

"The sad thing about it is Hollywood High School has had a program here for 99 years," said First Sgt. Larry Smith of the LAUSD Junior ROTC.

ROTC's leadership says that means students will miss out on character building, and even worse possibly scholarships.

"There's Army ROTC scholarships in college. Also, it looks good on a resume that a student participated in a leadership program," the sergeant said.

Junior ROTC or Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps was launched in the early 20th Century. Its mission is to instill leadership and responsibility in young people.

"This program changed me a lot. Like my freshman year I was really quiet and shy. I was really closed," said Grace Jhu, the battalion commander of Hollywood High School's JROTC.

Hollywood High School's assistant principal says they don't want to do away with the program but funding is the issue, even though the federal government chips in for half of the program's expenses.

"We love our program. We support our kids 100 percent," said Dr. Travis Brandy of Hollywood High School. "Last year we were able to secure additional funding to support the program and it looks as if we'll be able to have the program next year. Sustainability in the upcoming years, we're not really sure about yet."

Brandy also says LAUSD graduation requirements have changed and because of that they've had a huge drop in student interest in JROTC.

But students in the program now say future teens could be missing a major opportunity.

"This program really helped me out as an individual. It made me a better person," said one student, while another said: "It just motivates a lot of people. It just makes people become better."

The district hasn't provided an exact timeline of when it might shut down the program but funding is set to run out in two years.