Parents want changes made to Lee County Schools JROTC

The Lee County School District is making changes after 25 students were treated by emergency services for heat exhaustion at a local high school on Friday.

A district spokesman said there will be changes to next year’s ceremony, but that’s not good enough for two mothers and their daughters. They want change now.

This is Analeigh Brodt in her JROTC uniform.

It may be hard to tell but underneath the outfit are multiple layers.

“We wear long black socks along with our uniform pants. Um, usually something under it, and a T-shirt, and then our uniform shirt with the JROTC shoes,” said Brodt. “A lot more layers means you’re obviously going to overheat more.”

On Friday, firefighters rushed to Lehigh Senior High School to treat 25 JROTC cadets for heat exhaustion during a Veterans Day parade.

Brodt was on the field.

“I stood out there for almost two hours with no breaks. The sun was glaring like directly. I saw puddles of sweat on people’s backs going through their uniforms. I was never told to have water either,” said Brodt. “We’re not allowed to take breaks. We’re not allowed to back out of this. This is part of our grade, this required class.”

The Lee County School District said one student with a medical condition had a seizure and another student fainted.

“A bunch of students just started, like, either falling to the ground or, like, felt ill while they were sitting there,” said Brodt. “The girl holding the flag fell right on the ground.
I saw a girl pass out under the bleachers.”

Jaquavia Robenson, another cadet, and her mom Kayla, also spoke with WINK News.

Kayla said this situation terrified her.

“I saw it on Facebook. I said, ‘Oh, what’s going on?’ I screenshotted it. I said, ‘What’s going on?’ I said, ‘You OK?'” said Kayla. “It was a shock. ‘Hold on that’s my baby’s team!'”

What scares Kayla and Analeigh’s mother, Meghan, more is this situation happening again.

The school district’s spokesperson emailed WINK News to say that water was available and that students were encouraged to drink it.

Those cadets told WINK that didn’t happen.

WINK has not heard back yet about what changes are being made.