New Foreign Field Trip Policy For District 207

Student groups at Maine Township High Schools who want to take trips outside of the United States will likely have to get permission from the board, under a policy change proposed by school board member Edward Mueller on Aug. 1.

The board was scheduled to vote on updates to several policies, including one governing student field trips and tours, when Mueller questioned a provision that the school board be notified about trips outside the United States. The requirement should go beyond simply notifying the board, Mueller said.

Earlier:

 “Clearly, any overseas trip should be pre-approved, especially if it’s school sponsored,” Mueller said.

Trips that are not school sponsored – such as spring break service trips or tours offered by private companies – may not be advertised on school property and are not approved by the board, since such approval might mean the board assuming some level of liability in case of a problem.

Under the way the policy was written, the school superintendent – not the school board – had the authority to approve overseas or foreign trips.

But Superintendent Ken Wallace said that getting board permission would not pose any difficulties, since such trips are generally planned months in advance.

The idea of requiring trip insurance also came up, since District 207’s insurance carrier will no longer provide any coverage for trips to areas for which the U.S. State Department has posted a travel warning. That means that if a travel warning is issued between the time a trip is planned and students pay for it and when the trip is to be taken, the students would lose their money if they did not have trip cancellation insurance.

The board did not vote on the field trip and tour policy, instead opting to send it back to the policy committee for further discussion.

Among the other policies on the agenda was one removing class rank from most student transcripts. From now on, class rank will only appear on transcripts if a student requests it. The board voted 5-1 in favor of that, with Mueller casting the lone no vote. He did not offer a comment when he voted, but at previous meetings he has said that class rank gives students and their parents a realistic assessment of how they are doing relative to their peers.

Mueller also sought changes to a third policy, this one on when and how a grade may be changed. The policy as presented said that a school principal had final authority to determine if a grade may be changed; Mueller suggested that the superintendent also have that authority. That change was made and the new policy approved unanimously.

However, board member Eldon Burk said he didn’t think the change was necessary.

“I don’t think there’s ever a case where a principal makes a decision and the superintendent can’t override it,” Burk said.

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