School Board Grounds Challenger's D.C. Trip

Challenger K-8 students won't be going on a pricey, five-day tour of Washington D.C. this May - at least not under the purview of the school district.

The school board on Tuesday night failed to approve the trip for 27 eighth-graders who signed up for the excursion slated for May 4-9.

Board member James Yant's motion to approve the trip died for lack of a second.

Member Pat Fagan said he couldn't approve the trip because of "the economic conditions facing the county."

"Some people can afford it, some can't," Fagan said.

Board member John Sweeney agreed, noting that only about a third of the school's eighth-grade class would be attending the trip. He said the school should consider taking the trip during the summer, independent of the school district.

Students would have paid $1,349 for the trip arranged through EuroAmerican Tours, according to documents submitted to the board. The trip would hit the major museums and monuments to give students "a firsthand look at what is going on now and what has gone on before" in the fields of American history, world history and science.

Of the seven chaperones slated to attend, seven are school district employees. Among them is Cindy Stewart, assistant principal at Challenger.

Students had already started raising money by selling ornaments last December. Students also planned sell advertisements on their T-shirts.

The school hasn't made any payments for the trip, Challenger Principal Sue Stoops told the board Tuesday night.

The school board must approve all out-of-state trips. Board Chairwoman Dianne Bonfield said she wanted the board to meet for a workshop to make more explicit the existing policy that no arrangements for out-of-state trips are made until the school board approves them.

The board must consider other factors, such as the disruptions and costs to the district associated with six employees away from school for the week, Bonfield said in an interview Wednesday. The district is also liable for any accidents that occur on the trip, she said.

Bonfield recommended the school consider a trip to Tallahassee, the state's capital.

"It's just four hours up the road," she said.