MBUSD’s limit on travel trips infringe on students’ opportunity to learn

Earlier this year, the Manhattan Beach Unified School District limited the amount of days for school sponsored travel trips to 9 school days. Although students may be missing class time, travel trips provide a unique opportunity for students to learn by connecting ideas learned in class with reality. Exposure, and being surrounded by different people, cultures, and environments can only be experienced by attending school sponsored trips.

This new regulation has infringed upon students with multiple extracurricular activities to be able to attend trips. If a student has already taken a trip that takes up the majority of their 9 day limit, students will have to decline all other travel opportunities available to them. Students should not turn down opportunities because they have reached the limit.

In April, MBUSD ratified a set of steps, necessary for organizations to follow the protocol, when taking students on an overnight trip. First, the trip must be approved 30 days prior to the departure date of the trip. The overnight trip must meet a set of requirements, including not being longer than 9 full school days in length, and not taking place during the district’s designated semester finals week.

The district has also limited the number of students allowed to go on these trips, thus leading to less students learning opportunities. Currently, the restriction on the amount of students the school can take per trip is set at 40 students. However, the district has considered lowering the limit to 30. Dropping the limit would dramatically impact the amount of opportunities available to students that are already dwindling.

Missing more than 9 days of school for the purpose of attending a school sponsored travel trip is considered an unexcused absence. If a student is missing an excessive amount of school, the administrator in charge of attendance, Dr. Hofreiter will meet with the student and parent to address the the cause of the absences. Students who attend multiple trips should not be punished because it is for a school sponsored event.

The school board should add more days to the limit so students can attend school trips without having to face the same consequences that come with having unexcused absences. The protocol should be abolished and replaced with the old mandate so that students will only have to receive signatures from their teachers, getting permission to miss class.