A student-athlete in Howard County, Md., has started a petition to pressure school district leaders after full-time athletic trainers were included in the superintendent's proposed budget.
According to CBS News, the budget sets aside $1.3 million for 13 positions, which would be enough for one full-time athletic trainer per high school. Right now, the school district contracts with a company that provides eight part-time athletic trainers.
Junie Ro was grateful money for athletic trainers was included in the proposed budget, and she thought a petition might be a way to send a message to district leaders that athletic trainers are important. The petition has now gained hundreds of signatures.
Ro has been running cross country and track at Marriotts Ridge High School since she was a freshman.
"[My teammates and I] show the rest of the county that Marriotts Ridge is capable of being both an academic school, while also being invested in sports as well," Ro said.
Ro said she realized the importance of athletic trainers when she and some of her teammates hurt their ankles during practice.
"I had to walk them to the athletic trainer room because as captain that was my duty," Ro said. "Once I got there, there was no trainer there. So instead of returning back to practice and continuing my workout, I had to stay there and fill bags of ice for them and call their parents."
This isn't the first mention of athletic trainers in superintendent Bill Barnes' budget. He included money in last year's budget after students and families advocated for them, but those funds were ultimately cut from the budget.
