IJOA-2 Late Night and Overnight School Sponsored Student Travel

IJOA-2

LATE NIGHT AND OVERNIGHT SCHOOL SPONSORED STUDENT TRAVEL

I. Trip Approval Process

• 1. Only in the extreme circumstances that the School Committee cannot convene in a timely manner shall the Superintendent have the authority to approve such trips. Such approval must be reported at the next regularly scheduled School Committee meeting.

  2. Advance approval by the school committee shall be required for any student trip involving late night (midnight-6AM) or overnight stay away from the student’s home).

     1. CORI and/or background checks shall be conducted in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws and School Committee Policy.

  3. The School Committee requires that final approval be sought no less than 30 days prior to the scheduled trip date.

  4. The approval process shall be completed prior to engaging students in fundraising activities or other preparations for the trip.

  5. Overnight trips shall offer significant educational benefits to students that clearly justify the time and expense of the trip. Such trips shall be appropriate for the grade level.

  6. Teachers and other school staff shall be prohibited from soliciting privately run trips through the school system. The trip approval process shall apply only to school-sanctioned trips; The School Committee shall not approve trips that are privately organized and run without school sanctioning.

  7. Policies and procedures for trip approval shall take into account all logistical details involving transportation, accommodations, fundraising required of students, and the educational value of the trip in relation to its costs.

  8. Trip approval requests and School Committee approvals shall be documented utilizing a Committee approved “Late Night and Overnight School Sponsored Student Travel Approval” form.

II. Transportation

• 1. The use of vans or private automobiles for trips planned to include late night or overnight student travel shall generally be avoided. Such trips shall generally use commercial motorcoaches.

  2. Trips planned to include late night or overnight student travel shall involve pre-trip checks of companies, drivers, and vehicles.

  3. School officials shall ensure that the selected carrier is licensed for passenger transportation by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The district shall not contract with any carrier that has an FMCSA safety rating of "conditional" or "unsatisfactory." FMCSA carrier ratings are available at http://www.safersys.org/.

  4. Districts which are unable to conduct their own in-depth reviews of bus carrier qualifications may elect to use ratings and pre-qualifications established by other public entities, such as the Department of Defense's approved list of motorcarriers for troop transport (http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/Docs/BusAgreementPOCs.pdf).

  5. The contract with the carrier shall prohibit the use of a subcontractor unless sufficient notice is given to the district to allow verification of the subcontractor's qualifications.

III. Trip Scheduling

• 1. Overnight accommodations shall be made in advance with student safety and security in mind. Whenever possible, the trip schedulers shall avoid planning student travel between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m., due to the increased risk of vehicular accidents during this time period.

  2. Whenever possible, overnight trips shall be scheduled on weekends or during school vacations to minimize lost classroom time. Non-academic field trips are considered "optional school programs" and do not count toward meeting structured learning time requirements under 603 CMR 27.00. However, academic field trips may be considered structured learning time (see the Department's Student Learning Time Regulations Guide). School districts may consider travel for field trips as included in students' schedules, but the Department recommends that schools consider scheduling additional structured learning time when significant travel time is anticipated (i.e., time outside the hours of the regular school day)

  3. Trip itineraries must leave enough time for drivers to rest in conformity with federal hour-of-service requirements and common sense.

  4. Trip scheduling shall take into account the likelihood of delays due to weather, traffic, stragglers, and other unanticipated factors.

  5. If substantially all members of a class are participating in a trip, the school shall provide appropriate substitute activities for any students not participating.

IV. Fundraising

• 1. The amount of time to be devoted to fundraising shall be reasonable and commensurate with students' obligations for homework, after-school activities, and jobs.

  2. Group fundraising activities are preferred. Students shall not be assigned individual fundraising targets.

  3. If students are charged individual fees for participation, the district shall make every effort to provide scholarships where needed.

V. Student Supervision

• 1. Students shall be accompanied by a sufficient number of chaperones (recommended: 1 adult per 10 students), taking into account the trip scheduling and logistics. All chaperones, including parents and volunteers, must have a CORl check in accordance with M.G.L. c.71 s.38R and AWRSD Policy ADDA Background Checks

  2. All participating students must submit a signed parent/guardian permission form. Such form shall include appropriate authorization for emergency medical care and administration of medication.

VI. Liability Coverage

• 1. The outside vendor (bus company/travel agent) responsible for the transportation of students must provide the school district in advance of trip approval by the School Committee a certificate of liability insurance. The school district shall be named as an additional insured on both the general liability and automobile policies.

  2. Minimum coverage limits:

  3. General Liability (commercial and contractual)

  4. General Aggregate $2,000,000

  5. Products-Comp/Op Agg $2,000,000

  6. Personal and Adv. Inquiry $2,000,000

  7. Each Occurrence $2,000,000

  8. Fire Damage (one fire) $50,000

  9. Medical (one person) $5,000

  10. Automobile Liability (all owned autos, scheduled; non-owned, hired)

  11. Combined Single Limit $5,000,000

  12. Inter-State Travel

  13. General Liability $5,000,000

  14. Transportation: Safe, insured transportation must be arranged by the sponsor. Chartered buses or some other form of public carrier represent the preferred mode of transportation. In the event private vehicles are driven by either school personnel volunteers or parent volunteers acting on behalf of the school district, the personnel vehicle will be the primary coverage and subject to the district's commercial policy. Vehicles driven by either parent or school personnel volunteers must be equipped with seat belts for each child transported.

VII. Travel Agent

If a travel agent is used to plan a trip, the travel agent shall provide proof of professional liability insurance and shall be noted as such on the certificate of liability coverage. Additionally, a travel agent shall be bonded to protect against loss of deposits paid by trip participants.

VIII. Pictures

Pictures taken during a field trip by agents of the school district (Le. - teachers, chaperones) shall not be made public without the expressed permission of the building administrators.

IX. Privately Sponsored Trips

It is understood that from time to time various faculty members sponsor trips that are of an educational nature and involve foreign travel. It is to be understood that these trips are not authorized, sponsored or sanctioned by the Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School District and, as such:

• 1. Any poster or other form of advertising, including flyers for these trips, must state: "This trip is NOT sponsored by the Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School District." These items must be approved by the school principal prior to distribution or posting.

  2. Any work time missed by the students while on these trips must be made up and turned into the teacher no later than six (6) school days following the completion of the trip. Parents must send a letter to the principal requesting that their child be allowed to miss classes during this time period.

  3. Teachers who miss work days due to the trip must take personal or unpaid leave for the days missed from school due to these trips, unless they are approved as professional days.

Additional Useful Resources

• 1. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov

  2. United Motorcoach Association - Student Motorcoach Travel Safety Guide https://www.uma.org/help/student.asp

LEGAL REF: Chapter 346 of the Acts of 2002

CROSS REF: ADDA Background Checks

Exhibit: IJOA-2-E Late Night and Overnight School Sponsored Student Travel Approval

First Reading: 12/02/09 Second Reading: 12/02/09 ADOPTED: 12/02/09 Revised: 05 /22/12 Revised: 06/07/16 Revised: 2/13/18