Field trips...kids that can't afford

[mom2my3kids]

Our school has a rule that there will be no buying anything at all on any field trips. I was a chaperone and was told I could not buy anything in the gift shop. I agree with this rule. This way no one feels left out.

Kids don't need something from everywhere they go. We have annual passes at Disneyland and my children know that they are not going to get a toy there. Sometimes we will surprise them and let them pick something out, but most of the time we just have a good time and enjoy being a family together.

Our school needs to have this policy...

 

[SILLYANDI]

To the question of where the PTA/O funds are going, I can only suggest that everyone become more involved with their schools' organization by attending meetings and ASKING questions.

Our former PTA President is currently awaiting sentencing for two, yes, two felony counts of embezzelment. She stole $180K, yes, that thousand, over a 6 year period. (she is facing 2-20 years, per count, in a state penetentiary) How did this happen? Very easily, apathy! People did not attend meetings, people did not ask questions of exactly how much money was made and exactly where it was going. (her pocket) And, being a very generous community, when the alarm was sounded that more money was needed, more wallets opened up and money was donated. When fund raisers were reported at meetings, the comment was typically, "We did better than expected." Or, "We did better than last year." Or even, "We didn't do as well, we need to come up with another fund raiser." Yes, per PTA guidlines, we did get a financial statement at the beginning of the year. That was the only time one was handed out.

We've since switched over to a PTO. Her doing to cover her tracks. It's actually been good since as a PTO, we are not responsible for the former PTA's debts. (I discovered one of the many debts and began to ask questions. Was one of many factors that led to this discovery.)

My DD is going on the same field trip my DS did last year. Last year I paid $70 each for him AND my DH. This year, I'm paying only $32 for her and nothing for my DH. Seems we are now getting a truer picture of all the funds raised for field trips.

My suggestions. Get involved! Attend meetings and ask questions. Yes, it's hard to ask tough questions of neighbors and friends, but you never know who is taking from the "cookie jar". This woman was a very well respected person in our community. Very involved and very dedicated. Also, had very sticky fingers.

Also, the principal knows who the kids are that are financially strapped. If needed, they should contact the PTA/O to make sure funds are available to cover their expenses.

Have a good one!
Leigh

I was PTA president for 2 years and followed a not so trustworthy person. I was shocked to find funds missing, misappropriated & not accounted for-but because no one cared enough to show up to meetings or get involved it was overlooked for several years (I admit I was one of those parents until I became president). Unfortunately many parents think opening their wallet is easier than volunteering so they make it all too easy for someone in that position to steal.
We had an annual Carnival for years that never made a profit. The first year I took over we profited $5000. We didn't do anything different, just kept track of the money. Makes me think that someone was getting a hefty bonus at the end of the year instead of putting the money into PTA coffers.

 

[stm61]

not exactly on topic, but one of the schools I worked for this year does a bunch of fund raisers, all requiring parents to sell stuff. About 60% of the parents either can't or won't buy the junk, and neither can their neighbors or relatives. The 30-40% who have the money and a parent able to sell the stuff (kids are not allowed to sell) are treated like royalty. One example, there was an assembly with a magician for the entire school to see. Those who sold a certain $$$ amount were called over the PA system to come down before anyone else, the announcement made sure everyone knew they had sold $$$, and the kids were seated front and center for the assembly. The magician was told he could only pick from this group to come up and help during his act. They were recognized at the assembly, by name and $$$ amount. Then the kids were told that everyone was going back to class to work, while the $$$ kids were to remain for an extra special show just for them. Every one of the $$$ kids came from affluent homes with mostly stay at home moms who are able to volunteer at the school and compete with each other to see who's kids can be recognized most. The school is 60-70% (numbers go up and down since there's alot of transferring during the school yr) free/reduced lunch and is Title I. The majority of kids do not come from homes that are able to buy the junk, and don't have friends or family who can either. It drives me crazy when the rest of the class is asking why A and B get special stuff all the time and nobody else does. The older grades are able to understand that it's because their families are more affluent then the rest of them. We've had more fights, mostly the older grades, because A and B lord it over the others at recess. What kind of message does this send to the kids? The kid's themselves haven't even done anything, it's the parents doing the selling. Ok, rant over and I appologize for sending this off topic.

 

[goofyboyzmom]

I often wonder where all the money the school "raises" goes. My dd school has free dress ($2), flowers for Vday ($2/carnation), school dances, etc. I've never heard of the PTO/PTA having funds set aside for kids who couldn't afford the trips, but it wouldnt' hurt to check it out. I'll never forget 2 little kids in my daughter's Kindergarten class. They could never afford the parties for Christmas or the end of the year ($5/each + Christmas gift). The school actually would ssend these kids to the cafeteria to sit while the classes had the parties. 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.

That is the most heartless thing I have ever heard. Thank you on behalf of those children for your generosity.

 

[disneychrista]

In our district they can not restrict the field trip to those who can not pay. All kids go whether they can pay or not.

I have never seen a kid not go because of inablity to pay.

 

[crisi]

Our school has a rule that there will be no buying anything at all on any field trips. I was a chaperone and was told I could not buy anything in the gift shop. I agree with this rule. This way no one feels left out.

Kids don't need something from everywhere they go. We have annual passes at Disneyland and my children know that they are not going to get a toy there. Sometimes we will surprise them and let them pick something out, but most of the time we just have a good time and enjoy being a family together.

This is a great rule. A related 'not field trip' rule is that when you send your kids with another family, you should ask about spending money - and if their own children will have discretionary money. I can't tell you how many times I've funded video games I didn't intend to fund because one child brought $20 to spend (and of course, put it all into video games) and the other children had nothing. Or one kid shows up with $50 to spend on souvieniers and cotton candy - now my two think they need to spend $50.

I suspect that what is happening is rather than not broaching the difficult "are you paying" question, people are sending money with their kids to pay. I pay the gate and lunch, the kid has $50 burning a hole in their pocket, and it gets spent.

 

[Belle0101]

This thread comes at a really interesting time for our family. When DS enrolled for school at the beginning of the year we were presented with the option of paying for all of the field trips in advance or the pay as you go option.

Knowing that DS tends to catch every little bug that goes around and having to tighten up our budget, I opted for the pay as you go offer.

Wouldn't you know it, the day the money is due for one of the field trips DS came down with the flu. He missed a full week of school, didn't turn in money for the field trip and didn't go on the field trip.

The next field trip came along and the teacher sent me a letter stating that not only did I owe for this new field trip but also for the last one. She even acknowledged that he didn't attend.

I refused to pay for the one he didn't attend. But now comes another field trip and she informed me that I needed to pay for this one and the one he missed still.

I talked to the principal, asking why I am being told that I have to pay for a field trip my child didn't go on. His response was that before school started up they had added up the costs of all the field trips and decided to divide the costs between all of them. The dollar amount being charged for each trip is not the actual amount of the trip.

Okay, then subtract the cost of the trip he didn't attend and I'll be happy to pay the actual balance of the remaining trips. Nope, can't do that because he has no way of knowing how much each trip cost. I'm wondering to myself how he can't know or find out that information? It has to be somewhere.

He then pointed out that DS did go on the most expensive trip. Yes, he did but if you don't have a way of knowing how much each trip cost how can you be sure that was the most expensive one? Added to that is that I packed DS lunch for it because he could not eat the meal being served and no other options were available.

Even on top of that, I never agreed that he could go on all the trips. How can a school force a parent to pay for something? What if a parent has an objection to one of the trips for any number of reasons? What if your child was new to the school after a field trip or trips? Would they still need to pay the entire dollar amount because they can't recall the actual costs?

A little OT - DS worked hard all year earning "points" toward a year end incentive. The day before the incentive his teacher called and stated that she had spoken with the principal and DS would not be allowed to attend the incentive event because he could not eat what was being served. Again, no other options were available, not even the option of him taking a lunch, going for a half day (i.e., he could eat at home and then attend the event, attend the event and then I could bring him home to eat, etc), I would call the place and explain the situation to him, etc.

Nothing except a flat out no, he would not be allowed to attend the event. He was heartbroken, we were upset for him ... we let him stay home that day. Right or wrong, overindulgent, I wasn't going to have him sit out an event through no fault of his own.

 

[goofyboyzmom]

This thread comes at a really interesting time for our family. When DS enrolled for school at the beginning of the year we were presented with the option of paying for all of the field trips in advance or the pay as you go option.

Knowing that DS tends to catch every little bug that goes around and having to tighten up our budget, I opted for the pay as you go offer.

Wouldn't you know it, the day the money is due for one of the field trips DS came down with the flu. He missed a full week of school, didn't turn in money for the field trip and didn't go on the field trip.

The next field trip came along and the teacher sent me a letter stating that not only did I owe for this new field trip but also for the last one. She even acknowledged that he didn't attend.

I refused to pay for the one he didn't attend. But now comes another field trip and she informed me that I needed to pay for this one and the one he missed still.

I talked to the principal, asking why I am being told that I have to pay for a field trip my child didn't go on. His response was that before school started up they had added up the costs of all the field trips and decided to divide the costs between all of them. The dollar amount being charged for each trip is not the actual amount of the trip.

Okay, then subtract the cost of the trip he didn't attend and I'll be happy to pay the actual balance of the remaining trips. Nope, can't do that because he has no way of knowing how much each trip cost. I'm wondering to myself how he can't know or find out that information? It has to be somewhere.

He then pointed out that DS did go on the most expensive trip. Yes, he did but if you don't have a way of knowing how much each trip cost how can you be sure that was the most expensive one? Added to that is that I packed DS lunch for it because he could not eat the meal being served and no other options were available.

Even on top of that, I never agreed that he could go on all the trips. How can a school force a parent to pay for something? What if a parent has an objection to one of the trips for any number of reasons? What if your child was new to the school after a field trip or trips? Would they still need to pay the entire dollar amount because they can't recall the actual costs?

A little OT - DS worked hard all year earning "points" toward a year end incentive. The day before the incentive his teacher called and stated that she had spoken with the principal and DS would not be allowed to attend the incentive event because he could not eat what was being served. Again, no other options were available, not even the option of him taking a lunch, going for a half day (i.e., he could eat at home and then attend the event, attend the event and then I could bring him home to eat, etc), I would call the place and explain the situation to him, etc.

Nothing except a flat out no, he would not be allowed to attend the event. He was heartbroken, we were upset for him ... we let him stay home that day. Right or wrong, overindulgent, I wasn't going to have him sit out an event through no fault of his own.

I have never heard of such a policy in a school. My only question about the field trip with the food is, does your child have severe allergic reactions to something? Is he young and they fear he will eat something he is not supposed to because it is available and he is on his own? Not making excuses - there are none for a school this strict (AND MEAN!), but if they are afraid of a life-threatening system I can almost side with them........

 

[rileysmommy]

I must say that I am surprised at all of the "extra" money people have to pay for things at public schools. My dd (1st grade) has had one field trip so far this year and has another one on Friday. Both are totally paid by the PTA. All I have to do is provide her with lunch (which I do on a daily basis anyway.) Now she has come home with book order/book fair stuff but that is all optional and no one would notice if she did not participate due to a lack of funds. She has one fundraiser in the beginning of the year and it's not selling anything. They walk laps around the soccer field and try to get people to "sponsor" them. It is a large fundraiser for our school and was even featured in Family Fun magazine last summer. But that's it, she doesn't have to pay for anything else during the year.

I just can't believe how much extra money other families are having to put out in a public school. And yes, I would feel terrible if some child was missing out on all of the fun, extra things due to a lack of finances.

 

[Belle0101]

I have never heard of such a policy in a school. My only question about the field trip with the food is, does your child have severe allergic reactions to something? Is he young and they fear he will eat something he is not supposed to because it is available and he is on his own? Not making excuses - there are none for a school this strict (AND MEAN!), but if they are afraid of a life-threatening system I can almost side with them........

I would just about completely side with the school too if it were a life threatening issue. Fortunately for him it's not. His system just can't tolerate a lot of foods.

And I've never once asked them to go out of their way. I'm more than willing to call ahead, prepare a lunch for him ... whatever it takes but they just wouldn't budge. No exceptions.

What's a parent to do though?

 

[stm61]

I would just about completely side with the school too if it were a life threatening issue. Fortunately for him it's not. His system just can't tolerate a lot of foods.

And I've never once asked them to go out of their way. I'm more than willing to call ahead, prepare a lunch for him ... whatever it takes but they just wouldn't budge. No exceptions.

What's a parent to do though?

I don't think it's legal to not allow a child to participate because he can't eat certain foods. I'd drop in on the superintendent and ask his opinion. I've had to take kid's whose behavior was totally out of control on field trips, because mom claimed he couldn't help it because he's ADHD. (more like totally spoiled rotten and never hearing the word NO at home). If they still refuse to let your ds participate, call your local disabilities advocate agency or your lawyer. They can usually explain your position to the superintendent in legal terms that he can understand lol.

 

[Sandy321]

I would think that the ADA laws would protect your child so that he could participate -

maybe ask on the Disability board - the community board may have people that can help you...

 

[kimsuenew]

In our county (and at least two surrouding ones) it is customary for 8th graders to take a field trip to Washington DC.

Most schools have fundraisers (dinners, magazine sales, candy sales, food sales, and so on) to assist students with the funds needed for the trip which tends to cost several (4-5) hundred per student.

It was not mandatory in any school, only those students that could afford it (or aggressively did fund-raising to pay for their portion) went (now I am not sure how it worked at every school, but I do know it worked this way at four local schools).

Then... you have my DS school (he was there k-9th). It is a very affluent school (we are not) that is in an area where the majority of doctors, lawyers, ect.. live. They chose to have the 8th grade Washington DC trip as well but no... not during the school year as all the other schools did... they had theirs during the summer and at a cost of (get this...) well over a thousand dollars (I thought $1200.00, DS thought $1400.00). There was also NO fundraising opportunities... it was to be paid out of pocket and there were no scholarship type of opportunities!

DS did NOT go of course! I had nephews and friends children (all from other school systems) that went and it was a wonderful learning opportunity! I would have loved for DS to have went, if it would have been awesome and you know what... we could have sacrificed a few hundred dollars as others schools did, or assisted with worthwhile fundraisers (such as selling dinners, maybe even candy bars... you know the nice ones with the fast food BOGOF coupons attached). DS school decided to make it be elaborate and catered to the wealthy once agan.

Now... DS did (growing up) have field trips that all students could go on (but had to pay for themselves) and he missed one other that we refused to pay for. His zoo field trips, COSI, museum, type trips always cost less than $10.00 and usually a lunch was to be packed. The one Cedar Point Amusement Park trip would have cost for the admission ticket, plus spending money, and no packed lunch was to be sent, so easily $75.00 and up. He did not go and had to stay back and go to class all day while the rest of the school was there. He was one of a very few 8th graders that did not go.

The school I recently resigned as a TA from (to attend college ) was totally different than DS's school!

First, field trips were only allowed if planned, proposed, approved and if they were educational in nature (they have to link to a unit or study), with the exception of one school-wide trip to the skating rink. Secondly, there is a parents group that holds various fundraisers years round (nut sales, candle sales, candy bars, ect...) and all money goes into a fund to help the students that cannot afford "things" (field trips, specific school supplies, and so on) or brings fun speakers/programs in. No children were ever left out for the inability to pay, which was awesome!

I do think that schools (administration) need to look at the economy and the daily struggles many families have, before planning/approving field trips. I also think that it should be "all or none"... no kids should be left out because the money is simply not there. Just my opinion!

 

[EvanMaddieMouse]

I agree that the school should be able to pick up the tab for those kids who might have some financial woes that would keep them from going. I know ours does. Right now, we're in the middle of planning an end of year outing for our 5th graders, and it will cost $20 a kid. Our school will make sure that all 5th graders are able to go, and that cost will not be an issue.

I'm sending my 5th grader off to camp tomorrow morning. The cost, for Tuesday morning thru Friday afternoon, is $225.

Our problem is that DH has been on strike, for 9 weeks now. We went from his full-time with lots of overtime income, and my part-time income, to me. Of course I'm picking up a lot of hours, but it's rough. I was putting off writing the camp check, trying to bounce around bills. When I went into the office to see if I could make a few payments, they pulled me aside and quietly said they could cover half if I could cover half, that they understand hard times, and wanted to make sure my little guy wouldn't get left out, so they found the extra $$ for him and few other kids who's parents are in financial hard times.

DH said he feels a little "uncomfortable" about it; I said, hey, we are in no position to say no to any help that anyone wants to give to us!

Moral to my long, drawn-out story; ask the office staff if there's any programs or funding. It's working for us.

 

[Jaycey'smom]

It should be a rule at every school that all kids get to go if the only problem is money. I also LOVE the "no shopping" rule. DD school actually puts on the letter to send extra $$$ for shopping!! And many times I have had a kid or 2 in my group that does not even have money to get a drink. If I were loaded with money I would have no problem buying all the kids in her class but I am not....yet .LOL