CLEARFIELD – Despite one member’s opposition, the Clearfield school board approved class field trips for the Clearfield Area Junior-Senior High School students during Monday night’s combined committee and board meeting.
The class field trips receiving approval were: 12th grade, Washington, D.C., May 28; 11th grade, Penn State University Campus, April 17; 10th grade, Gettysburg, May 15; ninth grade, St. Francis University/Prince Gallitzin State Park, May 29; eighth grade, Carnegie Science Center, May 22; and seventh grade, Pittsburgh Pirates game, May 27.
Board members Mary Anne Jackson, Larry Putt, Phil Carr, Jennifer Wallace, Tim Morgan, Rodney Rishel, Dr. Michael Spencer and Susan Mikesell all voted in favor. Board member Gail Ralston opposed, saying she wasn’t against class field trips but wanted further explanation as to the educational benefits, as well as for taxpayer money to be spent equitably on all of the district’s students.
During board discussion preceding the vote, Ralston pointed out that she’d previously asked for educational components to be included in class field trip requests. She said educational components weren’t listed with some of this year’s class field trip requests. Ralston said in most cases, students would be missing classroom time to participate in the class field trips; for that reason, she wanted educational components to class field trips to make them equally as beneficial to the students.
“I don’t feel we should be in the business of providing field trips to every grade just so they have someplace to go,” said Ralston. Spencer pointed out that the students would be attending one of the educational days for the Pittsburgh Pirates game. Although attending a Pirates’ game, he said students would be required to complete a workbook of activities.
Wallace said she believed education and experiences from class field trips go “hand-in-hand.” “There’s an educational aspect in every single thing that we do every day,” said Wallace. “It’s about making it a teachable moment [for the students].” It’s about the experience and it’s probably something that some of our students wouldn’t get to do otherwise.”
Ralston then commented that it wasn’t fair and equitable for the district to ask the Parent Teacher Organization to raise funds for the students’ class field trips at the Clearfield Area Elementary School. She said they needed to be spending the taxpayers’ dollars more equitably to benefit students at all grade levels and not just 7-12. Wallace countered, saying that as a taxpayer, she believed these class field trip experiences would be beneficial to the students.
Morgan said many of the class field trip requests, Washington, D.C., Gettysburg, Carnegie Science Center, etc., appeared to be educational. He asked Ralston to specify exactly what she wanted from the district.
Ralston said first, she wanted an educational plan to verify students would be getting the same quality education on the class field trip, as they would in the classroom. Second, she asked for a district policy requiring its funding to be spent equitably from kindergarten through the 12th grade.
“I don’t think it is fair that half has to get it through a fundraiser from their PTO while the other half gets taxpayers’ dollars to pay the bill,” she said.