2340 - FIELD AND OTHER DISTRICT-SPONSORED TRIPS

Elk Rapids Schools

Bylaws & Policies

2340 - FIELD AND OTHER DISTRICT-SPONSORED TRIPS

The Board of Education recognizes that field trips, when used for teaching and learning, are an educationally sound and important ingredient in the instructional program of the schools.

2340.1	Purpose

	Field trips shall be planned and executed for purposes of:

	A.	Supplementing and enriching classroom procedures by providing learning experiences in an environment outside the schools;

	B.	Arousing new interests among students;

	C.	Helping students relate school experiences to the reality of the world outside of school;

	D.	Bringing the resources (natural, artistic, industrial, commercial, governmental, educational and others) of the community within the student's learning experience;

	E.	Affording students the opportunity to study real things and real processes in their actual environment.

2340.2	Definitions

	For purposes of this policy, a field trip is defined as any planned journey by one or more students away from District premises, which is under the supervision of a professional staff member and is part of a course of study.

	Other District-sponsored trips are defined as any planned student travel activity which is approved as part of the District's total educational program.

2340.3	Administration, Control, and Responsibility

	Students on all District-sponsored trips remain under the supervision of this Board and are subject to District administrative guidelines and student rules of conduct.

	Students may be charged reasonable fees for District-sponsored trips. However, no student shall be denied participation for financial inability nor shall nonparticipation be penalized academically.

	The District and the Board does not endorse, support, or assume liability in any way for any staff member, volunteer, or parent who takes students on trips of any kind which are not approved in advance in the manner required by these policies.

	Within the facilities or on the school grounds of the District, no staff member may solicit students of this District for any trips without the permission of the Superintendent. Permission to solicit neither grants nor implies approval of the trip. Approval for any District-sponsored trip must be obtained as required by these policies.

	The Superintendent shall approve all field and other District-sponsored trips.

	The Superintendent shall prepare administrative guidelines for the operation of all District-sponsored trips, including field trips, athletic trips and trips to other interscholastic events, which shall ensure that:

	A.	The safety and well-being of students are protected at all times;

	B.	Parental permission is sought and obtained before any student leaves the District on any trip that is not a trip to a regularly scheduled athletic event;

	C.	Each trip is properly planned and is integrated with the curriculum, evaluated and followed up by appropriate activities which enhance its usefulness;

	D.	Each trip is properly monitored;

	E.	Each overnight trip includes a minimum number of adult chaperones applicable for the category of students included and the type of trip;

	F.	Each overnight field trip shall receive advance approval from the Board;

	G.	Student behavior during any trip complies with the District's Student Code of Conduct, and on all other District-sponsored trips also complies with any additional code of conduct which may be established, specifically modified and approved in advance of the trip;

	H.	A copy of each participating student's Emergency Medical Treatment Form is in the possession of or immediately available to the staff member in charge of the trip.

	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 his/her charge is imperiled, or where changes or substitutions beyond his/her control have frustrated the purpose of the trip. In any instance in which the itinerary of a trip is substantially altered, the staff member in charge shall notify the administrative superior immediately.

M.C.L.A. 380.1282, 380.1331

Revised 6/14/93
Revised 10/22/01