Portsmouth schools to open without fix for field trip funding

Board votes against policy that forbids schools from asking parents to pay, but superintendent says she must abide by law

By Jim Mcgaw
Posted 8/28/19

PORTSMOUTH — In a vote of “protest” Tuesday night, the School Committee unanimously rejected a proposed policy that would have put the district in line with a ruling by the …

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Portsmouth schools to open without fix for field trip funding

Board votes against policy that forbids schools from asking parents to pay, but superintendent says she must abide by law

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — In a vote of “protest” Tuesday night, the School Committee unanimously rejected a proposed policy that would have put the district in line with a ruling by the R.I. Department of Education (RIDE) that forbids schools from asking parents to help pay for field trips.

But the 7-0 downvote didn’t matter, as Superintendent of Schools Ana Riley said she has no choice but to follow the law when students return to school on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

Shortly before he left his job in April, R.I. Commissioner of Education Ken Wagner issued an opinion that confirmed a state law prohibiting public schools from asking students’ families to pay for any school-related activities, including field trips.

The ruling, which was not overturned by the new commissioner, Angélica Infante-Green, sent local school districts reeling just a couple of months before the school year ended. Many school officials called the ruling shortsighted and said it would put future plans for band trips and other excursions in jeopardy.

“If we implement this policy, we’re slashing opportunities (for students),” Committee Chairwoman Emily Copeland said Tuesday night.

Portsmouth High School Principal Joseph Amaral agreed. 

“It really is a problem,” he said. “We’re trying to rack our brains within the confines of the rules on how to provide opportunities for kids. It’s going to put more of a burden on teachers. It is going to change the culture. We’ve got kids who have been waiting for this year to go on a ski trip. I don’t want these seniors to lose the opportunities that other seniors have had.”

But Mary Ann Carroll, the committee’s attorney, said the law’s the law.

“Right now, the status that’s been in effect for many years, (although) nobody caught on to it, specifically says you can’t ask parents to pay,” she said. “You can fund-raise, or the School Department can totally pay for field trips, or we can have a combination of both.”

An “outside organization” that runs a field trip may ask parents to pay, but any teachers who attend the trip must use their own personal time or be on paid leave, she added.

Some committee members wondered whether the district could fund some upcoming field trips, but were told there just isn’t enough money. Chris DiIuro, the district’s director of finance and administration, estimated it costs about $250,000 to fund the various field trips the four schools typically organize every year.

“Because we didn’t know this was going to happen, we didn’t budget for this (in the current fiscal budget),” Ms. Riley said.

Change the law?

Since the law is universally unpopular throughout Rhode Island public schools, several committee members asked about the possibility of getting legislation to change it introduced in the General Assembly in January. Ms. Carroll agreed with that option, saying that the unions, School Committee, the R.I. School Superintendents’ Association and other groups would have to get behind it.

The commissioner’s ruling, which was applauded by the ACLU of Rhode Island and Rhode Island Legal Services, was intended to make things more equitable for lower-income families. But others believe it’s shortsighted.

“This law is not going to make anything more equitable; it’s going to make things harder,” said Ms. Riley.

Added Ms. Carroll, “We never left the child home because they couldn’t afford it.” The district would always subsidize a trip so every student could attend, she said.

Lisa Janssen of the Portsmouth Middle School PTO said she fears fewer parents will contribute to a field trip fund-raiser now that the school may no longer ask them for money. Previously, parents would even kick in a little more to help pay for students who couldn’t afford a trip, she said.

But now, she said, “there are people who will stop writing the check for $15 because they don’t have to.”

After being told that Ms. Riley must abide by the law in any event, committee members voted 7-0 against the policy in hopes of sending a message to state education officials, Ms. Copeland later said.

“I do feel bad, because you’re between a rock and a hard place,” she told Ms, Riley.

Portsmouth School Committee

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