National Defense Cadet Corps/JROTC position eliminated at Hart Co. High School

HART COUNTY, Ky. – The Hart County Board of Education has reportedly eliminated the National Defense Cadet Corps/JROTC position at Hart County High School, and school officials are sharing what led to up to that decision.

Bo Chenoweth, superintendent of Hart County Schools, shared the following statement regarding the program on Tuesday:

“The Hart County Board of Education was asked five years ago to approve creation of a JROTC program at the high school. It actually created an NDCC program (National Defense Cadet Corps). An NDCC program has to be started before a school can transition to a full-blown JROTC. NDCC units are funded by the local school and have one instructor. Once the program grows and needs two instructors, it becomes funded by the Department of Defense and Hart County Schools in a cost share covering 50% of each instructor and then becomes classified as a JROTC program. The enrollment numbers have not grown to necessitate or justify a second instructor during this five year time period. Student requests for those courses for the 2026-2027 school year are the smallest of all requested elected courses. No incoming freshman have requested these courses as their first elective choice, and only one has requested it as a second elective request.”

“The Board’s decision to eliminate the NDCC/JROTC position resulted from a request from the high school Site Based Decision Making (SBDM) Council in order to satisfy the staffing allocation cuts to the high school for the 2026-2027 school year. This decision was made at the April board of education meeting in order to meet personnel deadlines as required by state statute.

“The Board acknowledges that students have been positively impacted by completing the NDCC/JROTC courses over the past five years. Principal Greg Cecil is exploring options with neighboring districts to see if there is a possibility of allowing students currently mid-pathway to finish the program in those districts. The decision to eliminate a position was driven entirely by budgetary constraints, based on an analysis of overall pathway enrollment and course requests for the upcoming school year.

“Thank you for the opportunity to provide the District’s explanation of this decision.”

News 40 will share additional details as they become available.