IJOA - Field Trips and Excursions

Emery County School District

Policy: IJOA - Field Trips and Excursions

Date Adopted: 2 November 1988

Current Review / Revision: 3 October 2012

The Emery County School District Board of Education recognizes that education can take place in a variety of settings and therefore it supports field trips, excursions, and leadership opportunities within the limits of available resources.

Field trips should serve an educational purpose. The teacher(s) desiring a field trip shall make a written request to the principal. The principal will review the request and determine if the activities are appropriate to the curriculum. Field trips are to have an educational objective and are to be limited to activities relating directly to the specified objective. Activities intended for entertainment purposes are to be avoided. Exceptions must have the

approval of the Board. Teachers should look for appropriate field trip activities where the educational objectives can be accomplished with the least amount of travel. When the principal approves a field trip, he/she must submit to the Supervisor of Transportation a bus request using the District electronic request form. The Supervisor of Transportation will forward the request to the appropriate district office supervisor who will make the final determination in regard to the request.

Schools will be assigned a set number of miles per year for student curricular field trips. Mileage allotments will be review every three years, or sooner if extenuating circumstances exist. Mileage beyond the schools' allotment will be billed to the school at the current cost-per-mile rate to operate a school bus. School principals are to work with the school faculty to prioritize and schedule student trips for the school year.

The school district administration will establish rules governing field trips and excursions. Such rules shall include annual mileage allocations, distance limits, time restrictions, supervision, and other rules as needed to insure the safety of students and the educational value associated with each trip.

The Board does not encourage out-of-state trips, but on occasion, it may be appropriate for student groups (band, FFA, chorus, etc.) to make out-of-state (contiguous 48 states and Canada only) excursions for competitions, learning activities, etc. Such groups must make application through their principal. If the principal approves, he/she must recommend the trip to the superintendent, who in turn will make a recommendation to the Board. The Board has final approval or disapproval of such excursions. The approval of the Board will be based upon the following conditions:

Absence from school will not exceed three (3) days. Missed work must be made up.
Travel arrangements (land, air) are appropriate for the weather, the time limits and distance involved.
Adequate number of qualified chaperones are oriented and committed to make the trip (1:8).
The District will make no financial commitments beyond the actual cost of the use of District-owned buses to make the excursion. All other costs will be borne by the participants, including airfare or chartered buses, if they are used.
The educational value must be clearly defined.
Adequate overnight accommodations must be reserved and parents informed as to how they may contact students.
Written parental consent must be obtained for each student participating. Parent(s) will be notified in writing that excursions are not required and student grades will not be affected by non-participation.
Adequate coverage for the teacher's classes must be arranged.
The sponsoring group will insure that the transport carrier demonstrates adequate liability insurance by providing written copies of such insurance.
No student will be compelled or have pressure (reduction of grade, etc) placed upon him/her to participate in the excursion.
No group will be allowed an out-of-state excursion more frequently than every two years without Board approval.
A complete itinerary of travel and schedule of activities must be submitted, including dates, times and places.
The intended excursion must be capable of providing an experience that could not be provided in the State of Utah.
Excursions which are not approved or sponsored by the District may not use the name of a school or the District and should indicate in their literature that they are not school sponsored.

It is the policy of the Emery County School District not to provide financial assistance to students and/or student groups and organizations to participate in out-or-state activities.

Procedures

Teachers desiring to take students on field trips must complete the "Field Trip Request Form" and obtain the principal's permission to take the trip. The following rules apply to field trips:

Schools will be assigned a set number of miles per year for student field trips. Mileage allotments will be reviewed every three years, or sooner if extenuating circumstances exist. Mileage beyond the school's allotment will be billed to the school at the current cost-per-mile rate to operate a school bus. School principals are to work with the school faculty to prioritize and schedule student trips for the school year.
Field trips for primary grades (K-3) should not begin prior to the arrival and unloading of students for the regular school day and should terminate in time for the bus to make its regular run at the end of the school day.
Field trips for intermediate grades (4-6) and secondary classes will not exceed a one-way mileage of 185 miles.
No field trip is authorized to travel outside the state of Utah, nor for overnight.
Any exception to the above must have the superintendent's approval.
Adequate supervision is to be provided for all field trips and excursions. Generally, chaperones will be required for all field trips and excursions at a ratio of one (1) adult to every twelve (12) students – (one (1) to eight (8) chaperone to student ratio for any approved secondary overnight trips). Exceptions to this ratio include K-12 school-to-school trips and secondary school excursions taken within the boundaries of the School District. These trips require that teachers, advisors, and/or coaches be on the bus with the

students. All elementary field trips, other than school-to-school trips within the School District boundaries, require twelve (12) to one (1) student to teacher ratio.
The goal for all secondary trips outside the District should be the twelve (12) to one (1) ratio. However, a secondary trip may proceed when, in the judgment of the principal and the teacher, a reasonable number of chaperones are available to adequately supervise the trip being taken. In these cases special consideration should be given to the type of trip, including the specific destination, number of stops, and types of activities in which the students will be engaged. Deviation from the twelve (12) to one (1) ratio should be rare and not the norm.
Chaperones are to be given specific instructions regarding their supervision responsibilities and are to be informed of any possible safety or health concerns related to the specific trip being taken.
Students are to be given specific instruction concerning learning outcomes as well as behavioral expectations for the specific field trip.
Once a field trip or excursion is underway, no student is to be removed from the bus and left unsupervised. Students are to be adequately supervised until returning from the trip or being released to

their parent/guardian. Students who leave on the bus to participate in a field trip or excursion are to return on the bus unless released by their parent/guardian, in writing, to return by some other means.
All students are to be accounted for prior to leaving a field trip destination and a bus check is to be made at the end of each trip to make sure students are not left on the bus.
If a field trip ends after normal school classes have concluded, supervisors, teachers/advisors are to remain at school until all students are picked up.
Parents of students participating in a field trip are to be given detailed information about the proposed trip. Signed parent/guardian consent will be required for all elementary school field trips.
Non-school aged children and students not part of the grade, course, team or school group for which the field trip or excursion is scheduled, may not participate in the trip or travel on the bus.

Curricular field trip mileage allocations will be made by October 10thof each school year based on the following formula (number of students based on October 1stcount):

Base Miles

Elementary Schools: 300

Middle Schools: 750

High Schools: 750

Miles Per Student (October 1stCount)

Elementary Schools: 3

Middle Schools: 10

High Schools 16

Add-On Miles (October 1stCount)

Elementary Schools: Round-trip miles between the school and Huntington multiplied by a factor of 1 for every 60 students. For Book Cliff Elementary, round-trip miles between Green River and Price minus round-trip miles between Huntington and Price, multiplied by a factor of 1 for every 60 students. Huntington Elementary and Cleveland Elementary do not receive add-on miles.

Middle Schools: Round-trip miles between the school and Huntington multiplied by a factor of 1 for every 50 students. Canyon View Middle School does not receive add-on miles.

High Schools: Round-trip miles between the school and Huntington multiplied by a factor of 1 for every 50 students. For Green River High, round-trip miles between Green River and Price minus round-trip miles between Huntington and Price, multiplied by a factor of 1 for every 60 students.

Schools exceeding the annual allocation will reimburse the cost of extra miles to the District Office. The reimbursement rate per mile is set annually by the Transportation Department.