Overnight school field trips top issue in Portola Valley Overnight school field trips top issue in Portola Valley (September 22, 2004)

By Marjorie Mader
Almanac Staff Writer

Overnight field trips for students at Portola Valley's Corte Madera School are back on the front burner now that more information has been developed since the issue surfaced last June.

The topic will come back with additional information for more discussion and a possible decision at the school board's next meeting on Wednesday, October 6.

Triggering parents' percolating concerns last spring about overnight field trips was the change in the traditional eighth-grade trip to Washington, D.C., to a new trip -- "Sojourn to the Past," which traces the American Civil Rights movement in the South.

The scope of the discussion expanded as parents raised questions about the educational value, ties to the curriculum, length, supervision and cost of other overnight field trips for students in grades 4 to 7. A few questioned the value of day field trips at the lower grades.

The school board asked the Corte Madera School Site Council to investigate these concerns and report back. The site council's response was that the field trips were justified, but noted they posed a financial burden for some families, particularly those who had several children in different grade levels.

Trustees at their June 24 meeting suggested keeping the status quo for overnight field trips during the 2004-05 school year and recording data for each trip so that a more thorough evaluation could be made next spring. They also asked that the eighth-grade field trip be dealt with separately because of the need for eighth-grade teachers, parents and students to reach consensus on a proposed destination.

There have been overnight field trips for most grades, beginning in the early 1970s with the fourth-graders' fall California Gold Rush trip -- based at the Regional Learning Center in Sonora.

Fifth-graders last year went to the Santa Cruz Mountains on a nature-oriented field trip provided by the Wilderness Outdoor Leadership Foundation, known as WOLF. Sixth-graders were off to Asilomar in Pacific Grove on a science-focused trip, also through WOLF.

Seventh-graders spent five days and four nights at Yosemite on a program, developed by the Yosemite Institute, that combines geology, ecology, social studies and outdoor adventures.

When Superintendent Anne Campbell presented the field trip report at the board's September 8 meeting, she said the fifth-grade teachers decided over the summer that they would prefer not to do an overnight field trip this year. Principal Joel Willen said the teachers planned to address the topics and curriculum standards on day field trips and in the classroom -- instead of on overnight trips.

The teacher teams in fourth, sixth and seventh grades want to continue their field trips, said Superintendent Campbell. They submitted information about each trip, addressing: destination, trip length, alignment with California content standards, cost, scholarships, supervision, provisions for students who do not go on the trip, and evaluation.

About 40 eighth-grade parents met September 2 to discuss criteria that they believe is important for field trips, but they agreed not to discuss possible destinations at that time. Serge Morgan, eighth-grade teacher, facilitated the discussion. The parents and teachers plan to continue the discussion at 7 p.m. Monday, September 20, in the school board meeting room and report the outcome to the board at the October 6 meeting.

Impressed with the quality and scope of the information compiled by the teachers, Trustee Ray Villareal suggested the information be packaged and mailed to parents to help them understand and evaluate the proposed trips.

Trustee Teresa Godfrey expressed concern that in the middle of a process to create a district policy on field trips, there's a proposal to eliminate the fifth-grade trip this year. It's important, she said, to communicate the rationale for the change to parents, teachers and students so they can comment before a decision is made. "I don't think we have shined the light on the field trip that has been eliminated," she said.

Board President Deborah Rappaport said there would be opportunities for public input on the field trip proposal at the next meeting, but cautioned, "the final decision rests with the professionals" -- with board approval.

E-mail Marjorie Mader at mmader@AlmanacNews.com

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