FIELD TRIPS/ACTIVITY
TRIPS
Field Trips
The Board of Education authorizes the
Superintendent or the Superintendent's designee to approve field trips for
students. A field trip is defined as a school-sponsored trip for students,
which is a first-hand educational experience to supplement class activities
away from the campus.
Activity Trips
"Activity trips" are trips
sponsored by school activity clubs or trips that are non-educational in nature
and are used to reward academic, athletic or behavioral accomplishments. The
Board of Education authorizes the Superintendent of Schools or the
Superintendent's designee to approve activity trips that are non-educational in
nature providing that the trips have been defined and structured as part of the
educational environment. Activity trips require insurance.
Unauthorized Travel: Commercial Trips
The school district does not sponsor commercially promoted student
trips. Commercially promoted student trips are defined as those sponsored by
commercial travel firms for profit. Such trips fail to meet the criteria for
field or activity trips and, therefore, will neither be supported nor sponsored
by the District. District employees or students who chose to represent
companies promoting student trips will be considered agents of that company.
Companies and their agents) that promote student trips are not permitted to use
school district property and/or other school resources to promote such trips. A
company or its agent(s) sponsoring student trips will be responsible and hence
liable for any and all accidents, injuries, and lawsuits, et at ., resulting
from its student trips.
Parent Permission
Students going on field trips to supplement
class activities or activity trips must have the approval of the principal in
advance and the written consent of the parent/guardian prior to the trip.
District Form APS-49
Signed permission forms will be in the
possession of the sponsor who accompanies the students on the trip. A list of
students who have signed permission forms will remain in the school office
during the trip. The list should indicate which students with permission forms
were absent. It is the teacher's responsibility to arrange for supervision of
students who did not provide signed permission forms.
Field Trip Expenses
In the event that participation in a field
trip or excursion is mandatory for a class requirement and a student may be
excluded from participating due to lack of sufficient funds, the trip sponsor
may utilize fund raising sources and/or assign that student with an alternative
assignment that will take the place of the field trip. Alternative assignments
must consist of useful work related to valid instructional goals. They may not
be punitive or burdensome in length of time or type of work required. Expenses
for student participation in a field trip or excursion to any state,
Attendance
The attendance or participation of a student
on a field trip or excursion authorized by the district shall be considered
attendance for the purpose of crediting attendance for apportionment from the
average daily attendance counts in the fiscal year. Credited attendance
resulting from such field trip or excursion shall be limited to the amount of attendance
which would have accrued had the students not been engaged in the field trip or
excursion. Credited attendance shall not exceed 10 school days except in the
case of students participating in a field trip in connection with courses of
instruction or school related educational activities and which are not social
cultural, athletic or music activities.
Approval Requirements
Within
APS District boundaries:
Written request on Form AD-14, 5 days in advance for
principal approval.
In-State
(Outside of APS District Boundaries)
Written request on Form
AD-14, 10 days in advance for principal and appropriate superintendent/designee
approval. Information copies will be forwarded to Transportation and Risk
Management.
Written request on Form
AD-14, 10 days in advance or principal and appropriate superintendent/designee
approval. Information copies will be forwarded to Risk Management.
Out-of-Country:
Written request on Form
AD-14, 20 days in advance for principal and appropriate superintendent/designee
approval. Information copies will be forwarded to Risk Management.
Approval of
international travel will be subject to United States Department of State
travel advisories and warnings. Travel warnings are issued when the State
Department decides based on all relevant information, to recommend that
Americans avoid travel to a certain country. No district sponsored
international travel will be approved if warnings have been issued for the
specific country or countries of travel or if a worldwide caution has been
issued at the time of request for approval. The trip will be cancelled if
warnings or cautions to specific countries are issued between the approval date
and the departure of the trip.
Participants in
out-of-country travel are required to purchase Foreign Travel Insurance through
the Risk Management Department.
The purpose of
out-of-country field trips is to familiarize students with the language,
history, geography, natural sciences, and other studies relative to the
district's course of study for such students. If student field trips involve
awarding of credit, follow the Procedural Directive regarding Alternative
Methods of Earning Credits.
Transporting Students
A. If the required mode of
transportation is not adhered to, the field trip will not be approved:
1.
Within APS
District boundaries: Preferred mode of
transportation is contracted bus.
2.
In-State (Outside
of APS District Boundaries): Preferred
mode of transportation is contracted bus.
3.
4.
Out-of-Country: Required mode of transportation is commercial carrier.
B. In the event that a contracted bus
is not available or a viable option for travel within APS District boundaries
or In-State (Outside of APS District Boundaries), everyone, including employees
and chaperones, transporting
students in a privately owned vehicle must:
1. Have
a valid driver's license;
2. Insure
their vehicle is in safe operating condition;
3. Carry liability insurance for bodily
injury and property damage as required by State law;
4. Obey
all traffic laws;
5. Have available and use seat belts
or child restraint devices for all students transported as required by State
law;
6. Sign a certification of compliance
for the above to be kept on file by the principal or other administrator in
charge of the activity. INS for 72E should be used for this purpose.
7. Successfully pass a background check through APS Human Resources.
C. When
transporting small groups of students in-state,
out of APS district boundaries, small
groups limited to twenty persons, including students and chaperones, will be
allowed to take no more than four private vehicles.
D. The use of passenger vans (9 passengers or
greater) to transport students is not authorized.
Chaperone Minimum Standards
At least one member of the school staff shall be the primary chaperone
for student field and activity trips; however, if sufficient staff are not
available for the remaining, required number of chaperones, the next preferred
would be parents or guardians. It is important to advise parents or guardians
that non-school aged children will not be allowed, since chaperones will need
to provide full attention to the students on the trip. Principals will approve
a list of chaperones prior to each field trip. Principals and trip sponsors are
responsible for the reliability of non-school staff chaperones.
The chaperone minimum standard for general
education student supervision is:
Elementary School - 1 chaperone for every 7
students
Middle School - 1 chaperone for every 10
students
High School - 1 chaperone for every 15
students
These are minimum standards; higher
chaperone/student ratios are encouraged to reduce the risk of student
injury/accident.
The chaperone minimum standard for students
with disabilities requires higher chaperone/student ratios in order to reduce
the risk of student injury/incident. Some students may need 1 to 1 supervision,
whereas supervision ratios for others may be decreased as per the individual
student's mobility, mental capacity and behavior. The principal and teacher
working with a particular group of students are the best authority regarding
the appropriate ratio of supervision.
Chaperones having
unsupervised access to students including those transporting students in
private vehicles must successfully pass an APS background check.
Activity Trip Insurance
Activity Trip Insurance must be purchased
through the Risk Management Department. Current policy limits per injury are:
$250,000 medical coverage
$10,000 death and dismemberment
Instructions for purchasing "Activity
Trip Insurance:"
1. Submit a written
request for purchasing "Event Insurance" that includes:
A. Date of trip
B. Time of trip
C. Destination
D. Teacher's name
E. Number of
students
F. Grade level
2. Requests and
payment MUST be received in the Risk Management Office at least 3 days prior to
the activity.
3. No cash or
personal checks can be accepted. Submit school checks to Risk Management.
4. Money cannot be
refunded unless the entire group cancels.
5. Risk Management
will provide FAX or mail confirmation to the school upon receipt of request and
payment and confirmation of coverage.
For current premium charge per student,
contact the Risk Management Department.
Cross
Ref.: Board Policy I.07, "Student Travel: Field and Activity Trips."
Board
Policy G.13, “Background Investigations.”
APS-49
"Permission to Participate/Authorization for Medical Services" form
AD-14
"Request for Special Activities Student Trip" form
INS 72E
"Notification of Responsibilities and Liabilities when Transporting
Students" form
NSBA/NEPN
Classification: IJOA
Revised: May 1995
Revised: April 1996
Revised: June 1997
Draft: November 2002
Approved: November 2002
Revised: December 2004
Revised: September 2005