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Well. This is certainly a situation you'd never think would happen to your school (then again, I guess it depends on what school you go to and how well you know it...)
I'm sick of repeating the story, so i'll just post the article from the paper.

____ High JROTC instructor fired for comments


(MY HOMETOWN) — A Naval Junior ROTC instructor at ____ High School was fired Wednesday due to inappropriate voice and text messages left on the cell phone of a female minor student in the program, school officials said.

Retired Naval Officer ______ was fired hours after an adult with access to the girl's cell phone information presented it to school officials, Superintendent ____ said. Police are trying to determine whether there was an inappropriate physical relationship between the two.

"It certainly crossed the line of professionalism and violated School Board policy," _____ said.

_____ said the messages were not sexual in nature, but he would not discuss the content. He said the messages violated School Board policy regulating staff-student relationships and staff conduct.

____, a resident of ___, assured (the newspaper) during an interview this morning that no physical contact occurred between himself and the student, while characterizing the relationship as too close for a student and instructor to share. He expressed remorse for his conduct.

"I feel the school was justified in doing what they did," ____ said. "I'm sorry for what I did to the unit and what I did to the students, the discredit I brought to the program and the unit. ... I've let them down." ____ said he was decertified as a JROTC instructor Wednesday and can no longer serve in that capacity.

____ declined to discuss the content of the messages. ____ said he and his wife plan to move out of the area.

____ said a letter will be sent home to student cadets and their families describing the situation today. He does not believe any other students were involved in ____'s alleged inappropriate behavior.

Meanwhile, police are conducting their own investigation to determine whether any inappropriate physical contact occurred. If so, ___ could face felony charges due to the great age disparity between the minor and himself. However, ____ said he is "100 percent sure" the investigation will show no criminal conduct occurred.

Police say there is presently no evidence indicating a physical relationship occurred.

JROTC instructors are typically retired military officers, but can be enlisted officers with more than 20 years of service. They are employed by their host schools, but certified by and ultimately responsible to their respective branch of the military. Instructor salaries are split evenly between the JROTC program and the school.

Started in 2004, ____ High School's relatively new Naval JROTC program has been in limbo for the past two years, with the School Board threatening to cut the program over low attendance both years. There are currently about 50 students enrolled, about half of the program's goal.

School Board members voted in March to remove approximately $65,000 to fund instructors, but added the funding back in after program supporters came en masse to the School Board's final budget meeting to state their case. A 2007-2008 school district budget has been approved by the School Board, but is awaiting a final vote by the City Council.

____, who was finishing his second year at ____ High School, had originally not planned on coming back next year, but ____ said that was still being discussed. ____ said he hopes the program can move forward unblemished.

"Hopefully the community and the students haven't lost faith in the program because of me," ____ said. "I hope I personally have not done something that has jeopardized the unit as a whole."

Yikes. I know the girl that this happened to, and I've known her since the first grade. It's creepy. I feel bad for her, because when she comes back to school, she's gonna get a lot of crap for this.

"Do you need your ears cleaned out?"
"Or any part of your body, really- we're not very fussy with where we stick this thing."
- rofl Fred and George Weasley from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

-INMH