Pembina Hills Public Schools trustees approved a two-year ban on all international field trips by students to Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, although trips within North America, Central America, South America and Australia will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
The ban, implemented by trustees at their Oct. meeting in Barrhead, will not affect a humanitarian trip to Guatemala by a group of R.F. Staples students in July 2017, though it does cancel a trip by Barrhead Composite High School students to France next April.
The subject of whether to allow international field trips in the wake of several terrorist incidents in Europe had been discussed at the last two school board meetings.
Trustees had sought the expert opinion of Kevin Cameron, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response, before making a final decision. “Unfortunately, we still have not been able to connect with him and receive that information,” said Supt. Colleen Symyrozum-Watt.
Nonetheless, administration had compiled an extensive report on the risk of travelling internationally and recommended making a decision that day.
“We want to make sure teachers …. do not (plan to go to) a place that the board may or may not consider travel to in the future,” Symyrozum-Watt added.
She said all field trips, international or not, come with a degree of risk. “When the risks are known and understood, we can plan to account for those risks in such a way that safety can be sustained and the activity pursued.”
However, the question of allowing international travel in 2016 has been impacted by the rise of ISIS. Unlike other terrorist organizations … ISIS has established itself as a nation, with managed territories, cities and armies,” Symyrozum-Watt added.
The Government of Canada itself states that anyone travelling to France should exercise a high degree of caution, especially if attending sporting events, religious holiday celebrations and other public festivities.
The federal government also notes that in the wake of terrorist attacks, French authorities implanted a state of emergency in November 2015 wherein they could impose curfews, restrict traffic and conduct police raids.
“Uncertainty about … potential acts of terrorism makes risk management much more complex,” Symyrozum-Watt said.
“Supervision under these conditions is considerably more difficult and significantly increases the responsibility and stress of supervising teachers. It’s simply more difficult to avoid random and uncertain risk.”
While students may lose some of the money they put ahead of the trip, Symyrozum-Watt said participants’ financial commitment are not the board’s responsibility.
In the end, administration’s recommendation was to suspend all international trips to Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia until August of 2018, at which time the conditions for travel will be reviewed again.
Trips to locations in North America, Central America, South America and Australia will continue to be considered based on the criteria set out in Administrative Procedure 60-03.
Trustee Sheri Watson also spoke in favour of the ban, noting she had previously fought to allow international trips again after Pembina Hills had previously instituted a restriction last November. Having said that, she said they shouldn’t expose the students to more risk than necessary.
“When the threat is that high, we shouldn’t be sending kids there,” Watson said.
