Field trips...kids that can't afford

[dopeyfanatic]

I'm not sure about where you live, but where we live a charter bus often ends up being the same price. A school bus charges by the mile, charter is a flat fee. In HS we use to take charter buses to sporting events because they cost the same but were nicer!

 

[a1tinkfans]

After paying $8000 JUST for school taxes portion, I'd be very annoyed if the school asked for 25-50 dollars for the field trips. We have had to pay under 20 for both (for the buses) past field trips this year and they were well worth it.

As a past school board member and PTA member and participant, there is almost always a "fund" that can be used. In addition, the schools social worker should be made aware of the situation as well. No child should ever be left out because a trip cannot be afforded. Our social workers also know families in need at the holidays, paying an oil bill (anonymous of course) and ANYONE can let them know they'd like to offer support thru SW. Times are difficult for many.
I commend you for taking a proactive stance and truly hope that all the children attend and enjoy the trip.

As an aside, I just have to tell you a story that has "floated" in our family and ALWAYS gets told...my husband was in elementary school, 5th grade and after a school break he came back to school and the class was having a scheduled party. My mother in law said that they got in SO LATE the night before that she completely forgot to bake a cake or cupcakes and did not send anything to school until my dh told her the story many weeks later.

WELL, the teacher made an ANNOUNCEMENT that all the kids would enjoy the party except XXXX (she named him) who forgot to bring in something to share. To this day my husband HATES The teacher, and recalls NOT being able to participate, she TRULY would not let him eat any snack.

He did not tell his mom until way later and she said if she knew she would have "had a talking too" that teacher. Truly AWFUL experience that has stayed with him to this day....35+ years later. Won't tell ya what he said he'd do if he saw her with a shopping cart, LOL!
Anyway, another reminder that ALL people need to REMEMBER how much influence there is to what we SAY and DO and its effect on others, especially children!!
Please keep us posted on outcome of this thread.

 

[RobinFabulous]

Wow! My DD (10, 3rd grade) is on a field trip today and it was $15. I know that our school district isn't alowed to do anything that they can't show is educational (k being the exception).
Our BEST field trip was 1st grade. They were learning about goods/services and they went to Publix and Olive Garden. Publix gave them all free 1/2 ga;l ice cream coupons, walked them through the back and Olive Garden fed them all, plus chaperones FREE.

We have great partners in education though, and we're at a magnet school, but when they ask for donations it's usually $1.

 

[patsal]

HS Public School teacher here--The price of busses has doubled and we have to pass that along to the kids because the PTA doesn't always have money in its funds for individual class field trips--they used to pay, but then some parents complained that the lower level was doing the fundraising while the HS took the the most money so they disbanded totally and set up an elementary level, MS level and HS level. Now the funds are distributed more evenly, but the cost of everything has gone up dramatically. As for the $1.00 for this and that--usually they are special collections by different groups in the school for something. It could be $1.00 to wear a baseball hat for a charity like Make a Wish, Domestic violence prevention, SADD, MADD, etc. The $25.00 for a name on the board is most likely the way they are paying for the board!
For students who can't pay there is a bit of money in the discretionary fund. Unfortuantely though it isn't always enough. One way the board in our district keeps school taxes down is by eliminating funding for field trips and making them pay as you use. It hurts poor kids the most and these are the kids who would not get these vital experiences if it were not for field trips. I know I have secretly put in money to help out a kid in need and I know other teachers who have done the same.

 

[tinkerbell1967]

Our schools must be different, My daughter has gone on several field trips over the years and we never had to pay anything. The only thing we had to pay for was if they wanted souvenirs.

 

[JoanneNC]

Until this thread - I never even thought about kids not being able to afford the field trips. How sad to think of a child being left behind. I think I will ask if there is any way to contribute to his class if there is a child - I personally would rather just pay for a child or 2 then particpate in those fundraisers that bring more junk into my house.

I will say that it also saddens me to think of how many teachers feel this burden directly and pay out of pocket- I would be a broke teacher.. Keep up the good work

 

[crisi]

I know I have secretly put in money to help out a kid in need and I know other teachers who have done the same.

Most teachers I've met do similar, and many of them say that after they fund field trips, school supplies, kleenex, books, lunches, snacks, and even clothes for kids whose parents can't (don't) they do the job as a charity gig.

Thank you.

 

[fiveforall]

[
I will say that it also saddens me to think of how many teachers feel this burden directly and pay out of pocket- I would be a broke teacher.. Keep up the good work[/QUOTE]


You are right. As a teacher, you see many sad faces, but that joy on a child's face when you help him out just a bit is priceless. I know my colleagues have paid for many a field trip, coat, lunch, glasses, etc. I had one principal who even paid for a student to have his braces removed! Field trips are wonderful experiences, but we can hardly afford the transportation costs!

 

[Jaycey'smom]

I contacted my DD's teacher and the principal today. They are going to let me know Monday (tomorrow they have no school) what needs to be done to MAKE SURE this little girl is not left out due to money.

As for the fundraisers if it were only a $1 here and there ok but it is usually more than $1 and atleast once a week. It can get crazy. But like I said I always give the $$$ so my DD does not feel left out. I know how much the teachers pay out of pocket for supplies so I will send in pencils, paper, crayons, ect that I find on sale throughout the year. I also donate all of DD's old uniforms to the school so they can give them to another child. It just broke my heart to hear that this little girl thinks she cant go b/c her dad does not have the money right now. But I hope by monday she will be able to go!!

 

[debster812]

Honestly, I'd call the school and ask them. They should have something in place to help out these children that can't afford these trips.
i know that our middle school does, they have a trip, Natures Classroom and there is a girl my daughter is friends with that can't come up with the 225.00 for the trip and they are giving her a "scholarship' so that she can attend.

With our grade school, they always send home a note saying if you can't afford it to let the teacher know and they'll work something out.

Please let us know if you find anything out. That's very sad for that child.

My son is in 5th grade, and JUST came back from Nature's Classroom. They also had scholarships, and every note that came home said if there was going to be a problem paying, to PLEASE contact guidance, and let them know.

Most schools do have something in place for this.

 

[spaceacewannabe]

I contacted my DD's teacher and the principal today. They are going to let me know Monday (tomorrow they have no school) what needs to be done to MAKE SURE this little girl is not left out due to money.

As for the fundraisers if it were only a $1 here and there ok but it is usually more than $1 and atleast once a week. It can get crazy. But like I said I always give the $$$ so my DD does not feel left out. I know how much the teachers pay out of pocket for supplies so I will send in pencils, paper, crayons, ect that I find on sale throughout the year. I also donate all of DD's old uniforms to the school so they can give them to another child. It just broke my heart to hear that this little girl thinks she cant go b/c her dad does not have the money right now. But I hope by monday she will be able to go!!

Good for you for doing something about it and good for you for raising your DD to be so empathetic and aware and confident that what she saw wasn't right that she'd let you know about it.

My best guess (as a teacher) regarding the plethora of fundraisers is that it's the PTO, so hopefully PTO will be footing the bill. That's usually kind of the point of fundraising! I certainly don't know any teachers that are really eager to do them without a specific purpose. PTO/A usually does that sort of thing so that they DO have extra funds for incidentals that fall outside of the school budget.

Also, that is one darn expensive field trip! OUCH!

 

[DalGal]

Each school is different, having different policies. Like a PP, the school I teach at is low income (98% free/reduced lunch) so we do get some federal funding but it goes for school wide things like equipment. Our grade levels (6,7,8) get team accounts whose funds come solely from school fees paid at the beginning of the year--in 7th grade we had 10 pay the $25 out of 140 students this year. Instead of trying to do tons of fundraisers all year long we got a neighborhood business to sponsor us (138 of our kids went on an overnight team building camp 2 weeks into the school year with these funds without having to pay a cent) and have written grants to fund other things, like our Six Flags trip tomorrow [for which students were charged $20 that includes charter bus, ticket (and additional return ticket), breakfast, lunch, and dinner]. We always hold back enough funds to scholarship 10 to 15 kids, if needed. Its a lot of work on our part as teachers up front but its worth it.

Same for our basketball teams, we are very frugal and look for grant/sponsorship opportunities ourselves instead of waiting for the school to appropriate monies. We also make sure we use ALL of our money instead of rolling everything except the bare minimum over to the next year. Who knows where those funds will end up! We've lived and learned that you've got to take care of your own...

 

[Jaycey'smom]

Thhe cost of the trip is outrageous ($52 for DD/70 for me)considering it is less than $20 to see everything we will see at St Augustine. So that means I am paying $32 for DD to ride on the bus and $52 for my spot on the bus!! The trip is 3 hours away. We also did a fundraiser to help pay for this trip and this is what they are still charging us!

 

[MrsPete]

I'm surprised at just how many field trips my kids' school sponsors! 3-5 per year, which is way more than we did when I was a kid.

Last year my daughter had two expensive field trips in one month, and I kept her home in protest -- and let the office know why! The money wasn't really a problem for us, but I know that it was for some families, and having grown up as a "have not", I hate to see this type of thing. If the trips'd been something really important and educational, it'd have been different, but they're things like a trip to the state fair (on a chartered bus) and whitewater rafting -- all things my kids have done with the family.

As to where the money's going, I would venture a guess: technology. Technology needs are growing at an exponential rate, and school budgets aren't. Parents expect the school to teach computer usage; teachers are expected to use smart boards, etc. in their classrooms . . . but these things aren't cheap (I'm going to a workshop this summer specifically because a $5000 smart board is the door prize). Printers and printing cost a fortune.

Textbook prices are through the roof too. Gas for the school bus (and most of them use diesel, which is more expensive than the stuff you and I buy). Student discipline problems are up, which means we're employing more assistant principals.

And don't forget standardized testing. The state doesn't give us those expensive one-time-use test booklets/answer sheets. Oh, the things we could buy with all the money we use for testing!

 

[Handbag Lady]

... I always made sure these kids attended the party, and had gifts to open for Christmas. It was great seeing how excited the kids were that they were able to participate, and to believe that Santa paid for the Christmas gifts for them.

Ah, but Santa DID pay for them!

 

[stm61]

my dd's came home from school today mad because their 3rd gr trip to the state capital got cancelled. It's out of the county so the state says no school bus (state owns the buses in SC) and the district can't afford the charter buses they were going to use because the price has gone up so high. It's just not in the budget so they cancelled. Asking the parents to pay is just not going to happen, alot are out of work or just barely making ends meet, and over 76% are free/reduced lunch.

 

[of2dbeach]

My daughter just came back from St augustine today. other parents complianed about the prices also. i was going to go with my DD but it was $70 for me to go YIKES! She had a blast and got some nice pics that she took. She said they went into the jail, saw a cannon blast, went thru a museum, went on a trolly tour, saw the oldest house, the inside of the great wall .. Not sure if it was worth the price but she had alot of fun. She went on a greyhound bus. Not sure what school your child is at but if I can help .. let me know

 

[of2dbeach]

My daughter just came back from St augustine today. other parents complianed about the prices also. i was going to go with my DD but it was $70 for me to go YIKES! She had a blast and got some nice pics that she took. She said they went into the jail, saw a cannon blast, went thru a museum, went on a trolly tour, saw the oldest house, the inside of the great wall .. Not sure if it was worth the price but she had alot of fun. She went on a greyhound bus. Not sure what school your child is at but if I can help .. let me know

 

[Jaycey'smom]

of2dbeach thanks! It makes me feel better that I am not the only one paying these crazy prices for a day trip. I am sure they will have a blast and I will make sure this little girl gets to go. I am thinking the school is going to pay but if not I will be more than happy to!

 

[simpilotswife]

Ask if your PTA has a fund for needy kids/field trips. When our dd was in first grade, one of her classmates hadn't paid to go on a field trip, so I thought she was not able to go. I asked the teacher if I could pay for her, and the teacher said she'd look into it , and get back with me. Turns out, our PTA had a fund for field trips for free lunch kids, so they covered it.

Just an FYI but PTAs are not supposed to fund field trips for students unless it is for every student. That is a PTA reg.

School districts here provide for free/reduced lunch children if it is a district mandated field trip. If it is not our principals do have a discretionary fund that they can use.