Male, female chaperones required on field trips with both genders

By Nathaniel Underwood

The Colby school board moved forward with their new policy to require both male and female adult chaperones for districtsponsored trips that involve groups of both male and female students at their most recent board meeting. The policy’s first reading was approved without much discussion, but potential issues revolving around funding for additional chaperones were brought forward during last Monday’s meeting. Ultimately, the board decided to approve the additional language requiring chaperones, but noted that they would look to create an administrative guideline that would outline how the district could assist with any potentially funding issues brought upon clubs due to the new policy.

Superintendent Patrick Galligan had brought the suggestion of adding the language to require or strongly encourage both male and female chaperones for trips that have both male and female students to the board’s policy committee late last year and the committee then brought short amendment to the current district-sponsored trips policy to the full board for approval in December.

“This [policy] is similar to what many other districts that I’ve seen or worked in have,” Galligan stated during the December 18 meeting. “I think in terms of common sense and protection for the district in terms of liability, this would be a wise investment.”

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Galligan did note during that meeting that there would likely be additional costs for hotel rooms and finding substitutes, but the board agreed that moving forward with the amendment would be worth the potential new costs, as it would create added protections for students, staff and the district. They approved the first reading of the version of the policy at that time, but were asked to more closely examine the impact it would have on the schools’ various clubs at this month’s January meeting.

Monica Dukelow, who spoke to the board as one of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) club advisors, echoed some of the earlier concerns regarding club funding for these additional chaperones at last Monday’s meeting.

“When we take into consideration our trips for the state convention, the national convention, the half-time conference, the mission-impact conference and others, they all involve overnight stays and hotel rooms,” Dukelow said of FFA’s numerous trips that would be affected by the policy change. “We figured that the additional cost to us is going to be somewhere between $1,000 to $1,500 to take an additional person along to have a male representative there if we take boys along on the trip.”

She also noted that the total profit from FFA’s annual fundraising is around $6,000 and stated that this policy would be a financial strain on the club. Dukelow also added that smaller clubs with fewer students would perhaps face even more issues.

“Our FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) only has one advisor and she took one male on a trip last year for their state competition that was overnight,” she said. “So now she would have to essentially get three hotel rooms for one student, which would be an additional cost to their club.”

Concerns over whether or not adding a chaperone would take away spots for students on trips with limited spots were also raised at Monday’s meeting.

“The other issue is that by bringing another advisor on something, sometimes you would be taking away a slot from a student,” Dukelow said. “Trips for nationals down in Louisville, we only have so many seats because we are going with Medford, Gilman, Athens and Abbotsford. We would usually be able to take seven kids and now we would only be able to take six because we need another advisor.”

While Dukelow agreed with the policy otherwise, she did note that these were concerns that she believed the board should consider when looking to move forward with the policy change.

For trips with limited seating, Galligan suggested that coordination with the other schools could be a solution. If there were chaperones from other schools on the trip that were staying at the same hotel that could cover the gaps, that would be an option to save a seat for a student.

The board also noted that, if the additional financial burden of the new policy was limiting clubs in some fashion, that the district should step in to assist.

“They are our students and our staff and we shouldn’t be restricting their abilities,” board member Lony Oestreich said. “This policy, in my opinion, has to be there, but we should not limit the students because of it.”

While specifics of how the district would be able to assist clubs in need of financial help due to this new policy were not discussed at the meeting, the board was in consensus that the policy committee design an administrative guideline for how district admin could assist these clubs financially, should the need arise.

With those solutions in mind, the board unanimously passed the second reading of the amended policy.

Other Business

n The board approved the 2024-25 school calendar at the meeting as well. While there were discussions of possibly having an extended spring break at the December meeting, the board opted for a calendar that was more similar to more recent school calendars, with a smaller break in February and ending the school year two days earlier.

n High school counselor Christine Wright presented to the board the recent changes in the student services department as they look to move away from largely paper forms and towards online resources for registration, scholarships and class planning. Through Infinite Campus, students will be able to see their progress through their four-year plan and will better lay out prerequisites for higher level classes. The department hopes that this will streamline communication between the school, students and parents and help students better navigate their curriculum plans.

n Galligan informed the board of a new addition to the employee handbook that lays out the expectations for when grades are to be available online for both the high school and the middle school. Under the new guideline, grades should be entered in the online gradebook a week after the assignment is turned in, with exceptions to be made for larger projects, essays and exams, with the idea of keeping students and parents more up to date on where a student currently stands in their classes.