Our kids take their field trips by grade and not by individual class. Our PTO pays for all of the class trips. We talk with the teachers first to find out what the class trip they really want is. We make sure the principal has no objections or concerns and then the trip gets okayed. Then the teachers actually book the trips and the busses and we pay for them.
For us it has been a little different in that we live very close to New York City and 9/11 stopped many of the trips we had been taking (Bronx Zoo, Statue of Libery, Ellis Island). The teachers and kids were not as happy with the field trips that they were getting and now this year we are finally going back to doing those pre 9/11 trips. So as a result of this our group did have many conversations with the teachers and principal to reinstate these trips.
Certainly it is dumb that you have teachers planning the same field trips. I would have no problem whatsoever talking to the principal and the teachers to make sure that the same trips were not being taken. I guess it depends on your principal too. Our Principal would not allow it to happen. He would tell the teachers it is dumb and that they need to come up with different trips. If they could not come to an agreement he would then plan the tips for them.
Can you fix the situation? Maybe not, but I see nothing wrong with having a discussion about it with the principal and trying to change it. You never know until you try. Becuase you do pay for the trips you absolutely should have a say in what the trips are....I don't mean you should dictate the trips, but you should be able to deem something inappropriate.
I believe it's the school that should not allow this to happen, but if your Principal is not objecting, perhaps he or she does not realize how the parents (who do have a financial interest)feel. I don't think it's especially your call to make though. While you are the President, it is your duty to tell the group at large the next step in starting a dialogue about changing the field trips if that is the majority opinion. My belief is that field trips should be coordinated by grade, not by class, and also across the district. When I feel strongly about something and I'm running a group, I will certainly try to persuade the group of how I feel but when my idea is not the majority's then I acquiese to them.
In our elementary schools everyone knows that Kindergarten goes to a local farm, first grade goes to a small zoo, second grade goes to a local small city and nearby one room school house, fourth grade goes to the state capital and fifth grade goes to the Franklin Institute. All must be curriculum related.
What role does your PTO have in Field Trips with your school?
We currently provide funds and leave it up to the teacher with approval of the principle to decide if it's appropriate. We have received several complaints from parents for doing it this way. For example, a teacher in kindergarden may plan a field trip, and 2 years later the same kids get the same field trip in 2nd grade. Yes, they may be educational and have purpose, but the overlap because many of the teachers like similar things is happening. My stance to date has been we provide the funding and it's up to the school to determine that it's appropriate. I don't think we can micromanage the 24 classes and what is appropriate for them.
