Winnacunnet Hires New JROTC Instructor

The Winnacunnet School Board put an end Monday night to a long stretch of by formally accepting a Marine Corps lieutenant colonel as the new Junior ROTC program instructor.

Lt. Col. Michael Antonio, a Hawaii man with ties to the Cape Cod area and 21 years of military experience, will start in the top position near the end of June, according to WHS Principal Bill McGowan.

The program had been since its leaders last fall to take positions in another school district. McGowan said Antonio, who applied through military channels, was the only qualified candidate to submit a resume, although McGowan said the district is far from merely settling with Antonio.

"To me he seems to be a great fit for the program," said McGowan. "We've had a program that's been here for [about a decade]. Basically we've had a very successful program and I think this individual can continue that success and build upon it."

The school board voted 4-1 to accept Antonio as the instructor, with Wayne Skoglund, who was elected as the board's new chairman Monday, serving as the only dissenting vote.

Skoglund said he agrees with the rest of the board that "the program stays," although he said he feels Antonio is "overqualified." Those qualifications and Antonio's higher rank will force, according to the Marine Corps' officer pay requirements, WHS to spend $10,000 more than what is budgeted for the position's salary.

"I think someone has always got to [mention] the consequences of decisions," said Skoglund, who didn't waver from his decision despite a couple of informal requests from other board members to change his vote. "We're $10,000 over. Someone's going to have to get a haircut or we're going to have to cut it from somewhere else.

"I'm of the theory that budgets should be maintained rather than overrun."

Other board members didn't speak to Skoglund's concerns about the budget, although several did speak in support of the motion to accept Antonio, which was made by newly-elected board Vice Chairman Henry Marsh.

"I believe in this program just as everyone else does," said Maria Brown, who also made the nomination Monday for Skoglund to replace her as chair of the board. "The board did exactly what it said it would do all along. We did it."

Antonio, a Utah native, recently spent three days at WHS meeting administrators and staff, as well as spending a lot of time mingling with "excited" JRTOC students, according to McGowan.

McGowan said Antonio's wife is from Massachusetts, and said Antonio's decision to apply at Winnacunnet is because he wants to "settle down" on the East Coast and raise his two children in the community.

Antonio still needs to finish the his instructor certification before coming the WHS. McGowan also said the school will be looking to hire another, lower-ranking instructor in the near future.