D97 clarifies policy on parent-sponsored field trips

District 97 families who want to get together to take their kids on an overnight or out-of-town educational trip can do so, just so long it’s not done under the guise of being a district-sponsored trip.

There are insurance liabilities that go with district trips, and certain mandatory procedures the district follows, says Supt. Al Roberts.

The issue came up at the District 97 Board of Education meeting Aug. 9. An annual spring excursion to Washington, D.C., including visits to the White House, is one such trip, sponsored by families at Brooks and Julian middle schools.

Roberts said such trips are very valuable and are good for parents and their kids to attend.

In response to a board member’s question concerning any liabilities the district might incur for such trips, Roberts said there are none, because it’s not a district- or PTO-sponsored trip. 

According to the district’s policy concerning field trips, “Privately arranged trips, including those led by district staff members, shall not be represented as or construed to be sponsored by the district or school. The district does not provide liability protection for privately arranged trips and is not responsible for any damages arising from them.”

Roberts said he explained that policy to the middle school families, who were OK with it.

“I explained the district’s position. In order to be a district-sponsored field trip, we needed to feel it has ties to our curriculum,” he said, noting that that’s also covered in the policy. “We needed to feel that it was at least supervised, if not planned more completely, by our staff, and that there needed to be conditions that would permit students who might not otherwise be able to afford to go to be able to go. Otherwise, I really saw it as a nice excursion that parents may want to take their trip on.”

The Brooks and Julian PTOs do not sponsor this particular D.C. trip. Board member Amy Felton, who said she’s gone on the parent-sponsored trip before, had asked
Roberts for clarification on the district’s liabilities concerning the trip after hearing inquiries from some parents. 

Roberts also made clear to the board that the D.C. trip is not PTO-sponsored either. 

Any trips that are sponsored by PTO groups do fall under the district’s liability, Roberts noted. 

Board member Peter Traczyk agreed with making such distinctions clear to families. 

“They need to understand that if you want to embark on this, it cannot be under the guise of a PTO-sponsored event,” he said.

Roberts added that there are no immediate plans for the district to sponsor a Washington, D.C., trip this year.

“There is the opening, and I believe there are some parents that are interested in meeting with me to talk about their perspective. I’ve never turned a parent away who wanted to do that,” Roberts said. “But I stand resolute in that there are some criteria that need to be met in order for the school district to take on the liability, the expense and the use of time for our kids.”