Programs find their traveling privileges limited after district administration made changes to the district’s travel guidelines.
The travel manual states that Career Technical Education and Fine Art programs can only take “extra” out-of-state trips, or “special overnight trips with embedded competition opportunities” or “embedded performance opportunities,” once every four years, and “exceptional” out-of-state trips, or “typically long distance, overnight trips where students are performing or competing” or where “students have been invited or will be competing in an event that is exceptional in nature through pre-qualifying events or invitation,” once every two years. Academic competition groups can take six “extra” out-of-state trips and two “exceptional” out-of-state trips each year. The travel policy changed partly due to the district accommodating their use of funds to the growing district, according to travel specialist Jennifer Malone.
“The district has not reduced the amount spent on student trips,” Malone said. “As we open more campuses and our student population increases, funds are redistributed to ensure all students have an opportunity to travel.”
This redistribution of funds affects groups like the Distributive Education Clubs of America, or DECA, which go on competitive trips each year. Historically, the district has paid for DECA members to travel to competitions, but an increase in prospective members has caused a limit to be put on the organization.
“For the members, they’ve mandated that you have to be in a (business-related) class or a returning member,” DECA president junior Tanish Chauhan said. “So, our initial member size has decreased a lot. It kind of switches our burdens on to making sure that attendance is high versus getting more members.”
The travel policy also changed due to choices made by department directors.
“Multiple factors come into play when making travel decisions, not just funding,” Malone said. “Each curriculum director makes decisions and considers factors such as learning goals aligned to state standards and district curriculum, lost instruction time in other classes due to travel, repetition of learning goals already mastered and so on.”
When asked about the specific factors that led each sections’ guidelines to change, the department directors did not answer by the time of publication, or they directed reporters back to Malone.
The new travel guidelines also require traveling students to report any medications, including over-the-counter drugs, they are bringing on a trip. The doctors of the students bringing medications must sign a form as well.
“I think it was more to protect, in a sense, the district, when there’s medications at events that are being monitored by a nurse,” nurse Caleigh Roll said. “More just so that there’s a paper trail, I’d say, for what meds are coming and going on these trips, if things are being incorrectly distributed to students.”
These new policies will remain in place for the rest of the year and will not change unless administrators make a decision to do that.
Editor’s Note: This is a developing story. As we receive updates, this article will be updated.
