FIELD AND OTHER CORPORATION-SPONSORED TRIPS | Policy Manual

2340 - FIELD AND OTHER CORPORATION-SPONSORED TRIPS

The School Board recognizes the value of organized trips or other excursions away from the classroom as a valuable part of the School Corporation's educational programming and a valuable opportunity to obtain additional educational experiences not offered directly in the curriculum offerings. These opportunities occur in four (4) primary forms addressed in this policy: a) field trips; b) extra-curricular/co-curricular program-related trips; c) overnight trips; and d) other Corporation-sponsored trips.

Field Trips

For purposes of this policy, a field trip shall be defined as any planned journey for one or more students away from Corporation premises, which is under the supervision of a professional staff member, approved by the Superintendent, and furthers or supplements an integral part of a course of study as planned and incorporated into that course of study by the teacher.

Properly planned and executed field trips should cultivate new interests among students, help students relate school experience to the reality of the world outside of school, bring the resources of the community within the students' learning experience, and afford students the opportunity to study real things and processes in their actual environment.

Out-of-state field trips that do not include an overnight stay must be approved by the Board.

Field trips to destinations more than one hundred (100) miles from the Corporation must be approved by the Board.

Extra-Curricular/Co-Curricular Trips

The Board recognizes that student trips will occur for reasons that are not directly incorporated into the curriculum as part of a class, but rather are part of the extra-curricular/co-curricular activities offered by the Corporation. For example, a Corporation athletic team may travel to away games or take a trip to an out-of-town tournament. Any such trips must be identified at the beginning of the activity for the school year or for the particular season. Extra-curricular or co-curricular trips shall be approved by the Superintendent or designeein accordance with the same procedures used for approving field trips. In cases where such advance notice is not possible (such as travel to a State tournament competition), the staff member responsible for such activity shall notify the building administrator of the activity and pertinent information.

Overnight Travel

Overnight travel is defined as a field trip that involves one or more overnight stays. The Corporation views overnight travel outside of the Corporation related to the curriculum/program as an adjunct to that curriculum/program. As such, it is an important feature of the overall educational program. The Corporation recognizes the importance of overnight travel outside of the Corporation to amplify and enhance studies that occur in the schools' classrooms through unique enrichment opportunities that are not available locally. Overnight travel shall be approved first by the Principal and Superintendent in accordance with the Corporation's overnight travel guidelines, and then must be submitted to the Board for final approval.

Other Corporation-Sponsored Trips

Other Corporation-sponsored trips shall be defined as any planned student-travel activity that is approved as part of the Corporation's total educational program, but not a part of a particular course and not expressly connected to an established extra-curricular/co-curricular activity. These trips may include such trips as summer trip programs, youth service trips, and other types of day trips that are organized by or through school staff or facilitated in some fashion through the Corporation.

Trip Approval Process

No staff member may offer or lead any trip as a Corporation-sponsored trip unless the trip has been approved in the manner prescribed in this policy.

Proposals shall include the details and the cost of the trip, identify any third-party entities that will be involved in the trip, identify the curriculum-based purpose of the trip, identify what students will be eligible to participate, and any other pertinent information. If overnight, the proposal must describe how accommodations will be provided and how such arrangements will be supervised properly.

General Trip Provisions

The Superintendent shall approve all other such trips.

Students may be charged reasonable fees for field trips, but no student shall be denied participation for financial inability, nor shall nonparticipation be penalized academically

Students on all Corporation-sponsored trips remain under the supervision of this Board and are subject to the Corporation's policies and administrative guidelines.

All trips must be well-planned, properly timed, and related to regular learning activities or to the Corporation's goals and objectives. There cannot be "free time" assigned on any single day or overnight field trip; students must be accountable to a chaperone at all times; students must be accounted for and in their assigned rooms each evening.

The person who signs the application must be an administrator and/or teacher going on the trip. This person will be known as the trip leader and is responsible for planning and conducting the trip and for implementing a security plan. For overnight field trips, the administrator and/or teacher must submit to the Principal a security plan that must be prepared prior to the commencement of the trip. This security plan must describe the manner of bed checks and must include emergency contact information detailing the itinerary (hotels/short-term housing rental, destinations, transportation company information, etc.) for administrators, school police officers or SROs, parents, and nurses. The security plan must detail the responsibilities of each chaperone with their student assignments for the length of the overnight trip at all times.

For overnight field trips, the following lodging rules shall apply:

Students (and their parents/guardians) shall be held liable for any damage or loss of property at all times while on the trip.
There are to be NO MIXED GROUPS in hotel/lodging rooms or short-term housing rental rooms; that is, no males in females' rooms or vice versa. If students want to be in mixed-gender groups, they will need to do so in the lobby or public area of the hotel or short-term housing rental.
Students shall be in their rooms by curfew, which will be announced each night. Students may not leave their rooms after bed check. No exceptions will be made unless there is an emergency.
Students must be considerate and respectful of other hotel guests or the host/owner of the short-term housing rental. Unnecessary and loud noises, such as slamming doors, running in the hallways, and loud music, are forbidden.
No room service is allowed.
Students will neither open hotel/lodging or short-term housing rental windows nor hang/throw objects out of hotel/lodging or short-term housing rental windows.
Students are not permitted to change assigned hotel/lodging or short-term housing rental rooms.
Students are not permitted to invite or solicit unknown person(s) or anyone not associated with the tour to the hotel.
Students are not permitted to use facilities such as the pool or jacuzzi/hot tub unless a chaperone is present at all times.
Students are not allowed to leave hotel/lodging or short-term housing rental grounds without a chaperone.
Hotel/lodging rooms and short-term housing rental rooms are rented by and in the name of the school, not the individual students.

The Board does not endorse, support, or assume liability in any way for any staff member, volunteer, or parent of the Corporation who takes students on trips not approved by the Board or Superintendent. No staff member may solicit students of this Corporation for such trips within the facilities or on the school grounds of the Corporation without Board permission. Permission to solicit neither grants nor implies approval of the trip. Such approval must be obtained in accordance with this policy and the Corporation's administrative guidelines.

The Superintendent shall prepare administrative guidelines for the operation of both field and other Corporation-sponsored trips, including athletic trips, which shall ensure:

the safety and well-being of students;
parental permission is sought and obtained before any student leaves the Corporation on a trip;
each trip is properly monitored;
student behavior while on all trips complies with the Student Code of Conduct;
the staff member in charge shall have access to each student's Emergency Medical Authorization Form;
provisions have been made for the administration of medication to those students for whom medications are administered routinely while at school;
provisions have been made at the trip destination and in transportation, if and when required, to accommodate students and/or chaperones with disabilities;
provisions have been made for the selection of lodging (for overnight trips) that provide a safe and secure environment.

A professional staff member shall not change a planned itinerary while the trip is in progress, except where the health, safety, or welfare of the students in their charge is imperiled or where changes or substitutions beyond their control have frustrated the purpose of the trip.

In any instance in which the itinerary of a trip is altered, the professional staff member in charge shall notify their administrative superior immediately.

Trips Not Sponsored by the Corporation

No staff member, volunteer, coach, or other individual acting in some capacity for the Corporation may solicit students of this Corporation to participate in any trip not sponsored by the Corporation unless that individual has received approval of the principal and Superintendent to promote such trips within the facilities or on the school grounds. This includes summer trips abroad or other trips offered through a third-party organizer in which a staff member, volunteer, coach, or other individual acting in some capacity for the Corporation is participating, as well as athletic activities outside the Corporation's athletic program.

If approval is granted to solicit students to participate, that individual must communicate clearly to parents that the trip is not Corporation-sponsored and that the individual is not participating within the staff individual's role representing the Corporation. Coordination and/or participation in such a program shall be consistent with Policy 3210 - Staff Ethics.

Transportation for Field and Other Corporation-Sponsored Trips

Regular or special-purpose school vehicles shall be used for transportation on field and other Corporation-sponsored trips.

Transportation for all field and other Corporation-sponsored trips shall use vehicles owned or approved by the Corporation and driven by approved drivers. Exceptions must have the approval of the Superintendent.

The Corporation shall assume transportation costs for a certain number of approved field trips as specified in the Superintendent's administrative guidelines.

Transportation may be limited by the availability of vehicles, drivers, and scheduling, and will not be available when needed for general school purposes.

All field trips shall be supervised by members of the staff. All other Corporation-sponsored trips shall be supervised by either staff members or adults from the sponsoring organization. Any time students are on the vehicle, at least one (1) sponsor, chaperone, or staff member is expected to ride in the vehicle and to supervise students upon return to the Corporation and while they are waiting for rides home.

All students are expected to ride the approved vehicle to and from each activity. A special request must be made to the staff member or sponsor by the parent, in writing or in person, to allow an exception.

Corporation students not affiliated with the trip activity, incorporation students, and/or children of preschool age shall not be permitted to ride on the trip vehicle without prior approval from the principal.

No student is allowed to drive on any trip. An exception may be made by the principal on an individual basis, provided the student has written parental permission.

The Superintendent shall prepare administrative guidelines to ensure that all transportation is in compliance with Board policy on the use of Corporation vehicles and/or the use of private vehicles.

Pursuant to State law, school buses may be used if the trip does not involve more than 200 miles of out-of-state travel.