Pinellas Park High School gets Coast Guard program
July 9, 2020 - The United States Coast Guard plans to establish a Coast Guard Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) program at Pinellas Park High School. It will be one of only three such programs in the nation, said Michael Grego, Pinellas County Schools superintendent. Rep. Charlie Crist announced the new program Wednesday. Crist, D-St. Petersburg, introduced legislation in 2019 calling for the creation of a USCG JROTC in Pinellas, which led to a provision in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act authorizing the creation of Coast Guard JROTC available to schools across the country. Previously, U.S. Coast Guard JROTC programs could only be established through acts of Congress. Pinellas County is home to one of the largest hubs of United States Coast Guard commands in the United States, Crist said.