542 Procedure: Extended Educational Trips

I.    General Procedure: Extended Educational Trips

Definitions

A.    An extended educational trip requires overnight accommodations for students/participants, whether during the regular school year or during a school break.

B.    Extended educational trips include those trips where the sponsoring organization uses the name of the school district or school within the school district and implies the consent, authorization, or sponsorship of the school district or school.

II.    Criteria and Considerations

A.    The Supervising Assistant Superintendent – Department of Leadership, Teaching and Learning (hereinafter DLTL) or designee will use the following criteria for approving each proposal for an extended educational trip:

1.    Value to student’s educational program.

2.    Safety and welfare of students.

3.    Time of the trip (during school year/outside school year).

4.    Total cost to students/participants.

5.    Sponsorship funding source and amounts.

6.    When extended educational trips do require an absence from classes, absences of more than five days will generally not be permitted.

7.    For purposes of supervision, the ratio of adults to students should generally be minimum of one adult for every fifteen students.

8.    All extended educational trips involving both male and female participants shall require both adult male and female chaperones unless the parents of any students of the opposite sex of the chaperones consent to their students participating in the field trip without same sex chaperones.

9.    Compliance with Policy 542 – Extended Educational Trips.

B.    Trip organizers should ensure an uninterrupted educational program for all students, paying special attention to the following:

1.    The students participating in the trip.

2.    The student members of the organization who choose not to participate in the trip and remain at home.

3.    Classes which may experience reduced enrollment by the absence of the students participating in the trip.

C.    Trip organizers should carefully consider the distance and conditions of the trip. Extended educational trips by school groups outside the limits indicated below may require additional supporting documentation.

1.    Elementary School– within 50 miles of school district boundaries.

2.    Middle School – within the state of Minnesota.

3.    High School – within the Midwest area.

III.    Requests and Approvals

A.    Except for trips to State Tournaments, proposals for extended educational trips must be submitted in writing (Appendix A, Proposal for Extended Educational Trip). Trips to State Tournaments are conducted under procedures required by the Minnesota State High School League.

B.    All proposals must be reviewed and approved by the respective building principal.

C.    Principals will forward all proposals to the Assistant Superintendent – DLTL for processing. The proposal must arrive in the Assistant Superintendent’s office a minimum of one month prior to the date of departure to allow for adequate time for decision making.

D.    Proposals which are approved by the Assistant Superintendent or designee are forwarded to the School Board for final approval.

E.    Proposals must be fully approved before trip organizers sign any contracts with travel agencies or collect any trip related fees.

IV.    Arrangements

A.    Transportation may be provided by the school district consistent with Policy 707 – Transportation of Students.

B.    Chaperones shall be selected by and are under the supervision of the teacher/advisor accompanying the trip. Non-District staff chaperones will be considered volunteers and are subject to policy 906 – School Volunteers.

C.    Reasonable accommodation for students with disabilities shall be provided.

D.    Trip advisors and principals should determine prior to actual travel if the U.S. Government has issued a travel warning or alert that could put Americans in harm’s way. ISD 279 through the supervising Assistant Superintendent – DLTL reserves the right to postpone or cancel the extended educational trip at any time due to conditions throughout the world that may be deemed unsafe.

E.    Trips traveling outside the continental United States require an additional insurance rider to the school district’s insurance policy. The Assistant Superintendent of DLTL will confirm school district insurance coverage prior to the trip departure date.

F.    The travel, lodging, and food expenses of school district staff and chaperones may be furnished in part or in full by the sponsoring organization. However, school district staff and/or chaperones may choose to pay all or part of the above listed costs.

V.    Parental and Student Responsibilities

A.    Students will abide by all school district policies while participating in school sponsored extended field trips, including but not limited to policies governing student behavior.

B.    In the case of extended trips which are not school authorized, parents are to follow the procedures applicable in the school building their child attends relating to excusing the student from school. Those procedures generally require the parents to notify the school in advance of the extended absence of the student.

C.    All extended educational trips require parent/guardian authorization.

Appendix A: Proposal for Extended Educational Trip

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Created/Revised
Reviewed: 12/15/20
Revised: 1/26/16
Revised: 9/23/14
Revised: 5/15/12
Created:  11/21/00 (formerly Procedure 5311)
Revised:  11/15/83
Created:  3/28/78

Cross Reference
Policy 511 – Fundraising Activities