dgraab
,
Parent
asks:
Q:
Does your school use buses for field trips, or require parents to provide private vehicles for transporting the children?
I recently learned that at my daughter's new school, they do not provide school buses for student field trips. Instead, they rely on parents to use their private vehicles to transport the children. The teacher says the school and PTA cannot afford the $500 fee for hiring a bus for field trip transport, and that the district only supplies buses to Title 1 (or low-income) schools.
If a parent is unavailable to drive his/her child to the field trip, then another parent will need to volunteer to drive that child. A parent may also opt their child out of the field trip, though I know my daughter would be extremely disappointed if I chose this option. If the classroom doesn't get enough parent volunteers to drive the students, then the field trip will be canceled.
I'm currently feeling uncomfortable with this approach to field trip transport, because I don't yet know the other parents well enough to fully trust them to drive my child in their vehicle, and I'd prefer that a licensed commercial driver of a public school bus be the one to drive the children to school-sanctioned field trips. I'd rather have the classroom take fewer field trips and hire the bus, then move forward with private parent transport for the five field trips planned for this year's second graders.
Do you think I'm being overly concerned? Is it common now for schools to rely on parents to transport students on field trips rather than school buses? What is your school's approach to field trip transport?
In Topics:
School safety (not bullying), Outside the classroom, Car safety
If a parent is unavailable to drive his/her child to the field trip, then another parent will need to volunteer to drive that child. A parent may also opt their child out of the field trip, though I know my daughter would be extremely disappointed if I chose this option. If the classroom doesn't get enough parent volunteers to drive the students, then the field trip will be canceled.
I'm currently feeling uncomfortable with this approach to field trip transport, because I don't yet know the other parents well enough to fully trust them to drive my child in their vehicle, and I'd prefer that a licensed commercial driver of a public school bus be the one to drive the children to school-sanctioned field trips. I'd rather have the classroom take fewer field trips and hire the bus, then move forward with private parent transport for the five field trips planned for this year's second graders.
Do you think I'm being overly concerned? Is it common now for schools to rely on parents to transport students on field trips rather than school buses? What is your school's approach to field trip transport?
38 days ago
Answers (1)
I'm a bit surprised that the school is taking this approach. For liability issues alone, schools where I've taught avoided using parent volunteers for driving.
I would imagine the district's lawyer would advise that if this approach is used, the parent of each child riding with a volunteer would have to sign a form releasing the school from liability if their child is injured in the volunteer's car. That's very off-putting to parents, and can obviously make them anxious.
Fundraising by a PTA or PTO is sometimes used to pay for field trips. PTAs may not be able to raise enough for the entire trip. But in some schools, the PTA helps fund those who cannot afford to pay a field trip fee. I've often paid $10 to $15 for my daughter's field trips to cover transportation costs.
You're right to be concerned with the volunteer approach. Discuss you concerns with the principal.
I would imagine the district's lawyer would advise that if this approach is used, the parent of each child riding with a volunteer would have to sign a form releasing the school from liability if their child is injured in the volunteer's car. That's very off-putting to parents, and can obviously make them anxious.
Fundraising by a PTA or PTO is sometimes used to pay for field trips. PTAs may not be able to raise enough for the entire trip. But in some schools, the PTA helps fund those who cannot afford to pay a field trip fee. I've often paid $10 to $15 for my daughter's field trips to cover transportation costs.
You're right to be concerned with the volunteer approach. Discuss you concerns with the principal.
36 days ago
