Skip to main content

Policy EIA-Il - Field Trips & Excursions

Policy EIA-II- Field Trips & Excursions (PDF0

Issue Date: December 16, 2009

 

The Board recognizes that field trips are an integral part of the educational experience as an extension of the classroom. A field trip may be for many purposes:  To point out items of interest, stimulate the imagination, reinforce concepts, and add topics for discussion.  It might also be a reward for a group’s accomplishments.

On a field trip the students are the recipients of the service.  The students are in an environment where they can be directly involved with the subject.  In this mode, learning is an inevitable by-product of the experience.

To be educationally beneficial, a field trip requires thoughtful selection, careful advance preparation of the class, and opportunities for pupils to assimilate the experience during and at the conclusion of the trip.  To this end, teachers and principals will be expected to consider the following factors selection of field trips: 

  1. Value of the activity to the particular class group (s) 
  2. Relationship of the field trip activity to a particular aspect of classroom instruction; 
  3. Suitability of the activity and distance traveled in terms of the age level; (d) Mode and availability of transportation; and (e) Cost.  

It is important that each student for which the trip is planned be able to participate if he or she so desires.

Field trips must be adequately supervised, and a suitable number of adult chaperones should participate on the trip.

When field trips require students to be away from home overnight, out of state, or for an extended time, additional planning and arrangements are necessary. The following guidelines will be followed:

  1. The field trip will be approved by the Board of Education.This approval will be received before final or detailed planning takes place.
  2. Students, parents and staff will be involved in planning the field trip or excursion
  3. The Principal or teachers will provide the parents with information concerning the purpose, the destination of the trip, the transportation and eating arrangements, the date and time of departure, the estimated time of return, and other details in a specific itinerary.
  4. Parent permission will be required.

Discipline. 

The teacher and/or other supervisors are responsible for student behavior in the bus as well as in the other activities of the field trip.  Students are subject to control and supervision by teachers and other supervisors to the same extent as in regular school.  Bus drivers may be requested to help with discipline, but the driver’s main responsibility is to drive the bus to and from the destination as safely and expeditiously as possible.