HERMON — Money talks, but perhaps not loud enough.

A group of parents from Carmel and Levant petitioned the Hermon school committee Monday to reinstate a popular high school teacher or face the possibility losing about half of the school’s population — and more than $1 million in tuition.

Many in attendance at Monday night’s packed school committee meeting came in support of Tony Zamojda, a retired Army officer who has headed the Junior ROTC program at the high school for two years. Zamojda’s contract was not recommended for renewal by Superintendent of Schools William Ziemer.

After emotional testimony in support of Zamojda at Monday night’s meeting, the school committee was presented with a petition with a total of 278 signatures from the two towns threatening to send their students elsewhere if the teacher’s contract was not reconsidered. An additional petition containing 90 signatures from Hermon residents in support of the parents’ efforts was also presented to the school committee.

Renee Overlock of Carmel has two children in Junior ROTC. She said Tuesday that ROTC has been beneficial to her children, and believed there needed to be more consistency in the program, which has seen five instructors in its four-year existence.

“I just see a good teacher here, one who has taken an interest in the kids and has helped them,” said Overlock, who added that she wasn’t hopeful that Ziemer would reverse his decision. “If we don’t get results with this petition, we would consider recalling school committee members or working toward a no-confidence vote toward Mr. Ziemer.”

If the towns were successful in petitioning to leave the system, Hermon would lose half of the school’s 550 students and about $1.3 million in tutition, according to Ziemer.

The superintendent said Monday night that the petitions did concern him, but he would stand by his decision for dismissing the teacher, who was working on a provisional certificate.

“People are telling me there’s a lot of support for this,” Ziemer said of the petition. “But I feel I have a very sound reason for taking this action, and I think it’s important we stick to that decision.”

Ziemer, who is bound by state law, said he was unable to discuss the reasons for dismissing Zamojda, who has since filed a grievance with the Maine Education Association. A provisional teacher can be dismissed without a documented reason.

Zamojda, reached Tuesday, said he was not given a reason for his dismissal, but surmised it was designed as payback for rulings in his favor on two previous grievances filed against the school system.

At Monday’s meeting, the school committee affirmed its support for the high school’s ROTC program — one of just four in the state — by unanimously endorsing a proclamation in support of the program.

School Committee Chair Linda Russell said Tuesday that while the school committee listened to the concerns of the students and parents, the committee stood behind the superintendent’s decision.