| Otsego Public Schools |
| Bylaws & Policies |
2340 - FIELD 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 can be defined as any planned travel activity which supplements or enriches the curriculum.
The Board of Education shall approve those field trips which take students from this District and are planned to keep students out of the District overnight or longer.
The Superintendent shall approve all other field trips.
Students may be charged reasonable fees for field trips. Generally no student shall be denied participation for financial inability, nor shall nonparticipation be penalized academically.
Students on field trips remain under the supervision of this Board and are subject to its administrative guidelines.
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 Board permission.
The Superintendent shall prepare procedures for the operation of a field trip which shall ensure that:
| A. | the safety and well-being of students shall be protected at all times; | |
| B. | parental permission is sought and obtained before any student may be removed from the District for a field trip; | |
| C. | each field trip is properly planned, integrated with the curriculum, 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 field trip is monitored and should be continually evaluated; | |
| F. | no field trip will be approved unless it contributes to the achievement of specified instructional objectives; | |
| G. | as a minimum student behavior while on field trips complies with the Student Code of Conduct; | |
| H. | emergency medical treatment is authorized when a field trip involves long distance travel. |
Teachers are permitted to make on-site alterations to a trip itinerary.
A teacher 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 field trip is altered, the teacher in charge shall notify the administrative superior immediately.
M.C.L.A. 380.1282, 380.1331