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Public comment invited on Board proposal to revise policy on field trips and travel
2/26/2019The PPS Board will be considering a number of policy changes in the coming weeks that would affect both school-sponsored and non-school-sponsored field trips and travel. Special activities outside the classroom are a recognized and important part of the educational experience, and these changes are not meant to diminish that importance.
Under the proposed policy (read it here), field trips and off-campus activities for Portland Public Schools students would be subject to additional review to make sure they are safe and conform to the district’s equity policy and educational mission under a proposed policy revision the Board of Education will introduce at its Tuesday, Feb. 26 meeting.
The Board will then take public comment for 21 days on the proposed revisions. The changes are in response to safety recommendations made in the Whitehurst report, as well as work done in multiple sessions by the Board’s Policy and Governance Committee in consultation with the Risk Management and General Counsel departments.
“The proposed changes are intended to increase safety for students on field trips and during travel; to better assure that learning will not be disrupted for students, whether they are participating in a trip or remaining at school; and to better support all students having access and opportunities to participate,” Julia Brim-Edwards, the committee chair, said in introducing the revisions.
The revised policy ties into a proposed new policy that emerged from the Whitehurst report, Professional Conduct Between Staff and Students, and requires staff to follow the new conduct policy (if passed) during off-campus activities. Out of state and foreign travel will continue to require board review and approval.
The revisions are the first for a policy that was written in 2002 under the name “Off-Campus Activities,” and will be changed to “Field Trips, Foreign Travel, and Other Off-Campus Activities.” The policy is being reorganized to put trips into two categories: district-sponsored activities and non-school-sponsored activities.
The revision adds language that says school staff should avoid off-campus activities that would keep students from participating because of cost, and should be aware of factors that could affect students in transit or at the destination, such as discriminatory practices based on religion, culture, gender orientation, sexual identity or immigration status.
The proposed revised policy also says that when a large group leaves a school campus for a trip, it should not compromise the integrity of that school’s educational programs, and that students who do not participate in trips shall not have the continuity of their curriculum interrupted. A limitation on the length of trips in a previous draft has been eliminated.
The revision was originally introduced to the full Board at its Dec. 11 meeting and put into a 21-day public comment period. The Policy and Governance Committee continued to work on it, and at its Jan. 31 meeting took public comment and has made significant revisions based on community feedback. It was reintroduced on Feb. 26 and put into another 21-day public comment period, with a Board vote possible on March 19.
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