As news coverage intensifies over the spread of COVID-19, school districts are erring on the side of caution when it comes to the health of their students.
The Hall County School District has already canceled or postponed a half dozen out-of-country field trips, and officials with the district said they are also keeping a close watch on health conditions in neighboring states where field trips are scheduled.
"We've put principals on notice that they [field trips] are day-by-day, that conditions are continually changing," said District Superintendent Will Schofield at a Monday night work session.
Schofield said no field trips are allowed out of the country at this time, and if there are field trips scheduled 100 miles or more out of the district, then they want a number of questions answered before they allow students to travel.
"First of all, we want confirmation of the health department on the other end that it's a safe destination," Schofield said. "We want confirmation from our health department that it's safe leaving and traveling at this time."
Schofield said if parents are concerned about their children traveling for athletic or other extracurricular competitions - even those close by - then the school district will abide with wishes of parents who want to keep their children in Hall County.
"If there are not enough folks to play a ball game, if there are not enough folks to make music with a band, then the field trip is off," Schofield said.
Kevin Bales, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, acknowledged after the meeting that a great deal of work goes into planning field trips, especially those that take place out of the United States. However, he said students and chaperones are well aware of the health threat around the world.
"There was a lot of understanding because some of these trips were close to the action," Bales said. "We had one that was for France...we had one that was in Spain...we had one for Japan."
Bales said there are some out-of-country field trips being organized for the 2021-2022 school year, and while the hope is that coronavirus won't be an issue that far in the future, school district officials will continue to monitor the situation.
"Our board and district officials just want to make sure at the end of the day that our kids are safe - that's paramount," Bales said.
As far as the expense of the trips, Bales said the school district requires travel insurance for all out-of-country trips, so those who had booked travel and hotel accommodations for the trips that were canceled should not have a financial loss.
