| Medina City Schools |
| Bylaws & Policies |
2340 - FIELD AND OTHER DISTRICT-SPONSORED TRIPS
The Board of Education recognizes that field trips, when used for teaching and learning integral to the curriculum, are an educationally sound and important ingredient in the instructional program of the schools. Properly planned and executed field trips should:
| A. | supplement and enrich classroom procedures by providing learning experiences in an environment outside the schools; | |
| B. | arouse new interests among students; | |
| C. | help students relate school experiences to the reality of the world outside of school; | |
| D. | bring the resources of the community-natural, artistic, industrial, commercial, governmental, educational-within the student's learning experience; | |
| E. | afford students the opportunity to study real things and real processes in their actual environment. |
For purposes of this policy, a field trip shall be 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 an integral part of a course of study.
Other District-sponsored trips shall be defined as any planned student travel activity which is approved as part of the District's total educational program.
School personnel shall not accept any form of compensation from vendors that might influence their recommendation on the eventual selection of a location for, or a vendor that will provide transportation to, a field or other district-sponsored trip. Furthermore, school personnel shall not accept any compensation from a vendor after a decision has been made regarding the location for, or a vendor that will provide transportation to, a field or other District-sponsored trip. In addition, school personnel who recommended the location for, or a vendor that will provide transportation to, a field or other district-sponsored trip shall not enter into a contractual arrangement whereby an individual staff member receives compensation in any form from the vendor that operates the venue for, or provides the transportation to, a field or other District-sponsored trip for services rendered.
Such compensation includes, but is not limited to, cash, checks, stocks, or any other form of securities, and gifts such as televisions, microwave ovens, computers, discount certificates, travel vouchers, tickets, passes, and other such things of value. In the event that a school staff member receives such compensation, albeit unsolicited, from a vendor, the staff member shall notify the Treasurer, in writing, that s/he received such compensation and shall thereafter promptly transmit said compensation to the Treasurer at his/her earliest opportunity.
Care will be taken by the administration that such trips do not proliferate to the point where the expenses become a burden for the parents.
Students on all District-sponsored trips remain under the supervision of this Board and are subject to District's administrative guidelines.
NONDISTRICT-SPONSORED TRIPS
The Board does not endorse, support, or assume liability in any way for any staff member, volunteer, or parent of the District who takes students on trips not approved by the Board or Superintendent. No staff member may solicit students of this District for such trips within the facilities or on the school grounds of the District without permission from the Superintendent. Permission to solicit neither grants nor implies approval of the trip. Such approval must be obtained in accordance with the District's Administrative Guidelines for Nondistrict-Sponsored Trips.
The Superintendent shall prepare administrative guidelines for the operation of both field and other District-sponsored trips, including athletic trips, which shall address that:
| A. | the safety and well-being of students; | |
| B. | parental permission is sought and obtained before any student leaves the District on a trip; | |
| C. | each trip is properly planned, and if a field trip, is integrated with the curriculum, evaluated, and followed up by appropriate activities which enhance its usefulness; | |
| D. | the effectiveness of field trip activities is judged in terms of demonstrated learning outcomes; | |
| E. | each trip is properly monitored; | |
| F. | student behavior while on all field trips complies with the Student Code of Conduct and on all other trips complies with an approved code of conduct for the trip; | |
| G. | a copy of each student's Emergency Medical Authorization Form is the possession of the staff member in charge. |
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 altered, the professional staff member in charge shall notify the administrative superior immediately.
R.C. 3327.15
A.C. 3301-83-12, 3301-83-16(A)(B)(E)
Auditor of State Bulletin 2000-006
Revised 11/20/00