While teachers are on strike for more funding.
Via KOAT:
The Santa Fe Public Schools Board took a vote Tuesday night on whether to no longer accept funding from the National Rifle Association.
The board unanimously voted to not accept funds anymore, but ensured they would find an alternate funding source for the JROTC program.
School Board President Steve Carrillo said the grants total $4,000, which goes toward equipment for the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at Santa Fe High School.
Carrillo said his move was not about gun rights but about principle.
“This vote tonight is about one thing. Not about the Second Amendment, not about the firearms, but just about the district not taking NRA funds,” Carrillo said.
The JROTC at the high school is one of the best in the nation, having won first place recently in two national contests.
Carrillo said the school board will explore ways to replace the $4,000, should the board vote to no longer accept NRA money.
“I already know two other board members who have been working with community partners and I believe by the end of the week, we could have four thousand dollars by the drop of the hat,” Carrillo said.
The NRA tells Target 7 the money in question is raised by people within the Santa Fe community.
“The school board would punish a program such as JROTC, which teaches leadership and develops character among local youth, just to make a political point. The school board should be made to absorb the costs of this program out of their own budget,” said NRA spokesperson Catherine Mortensen.