There are over 250 tour companies operating in the United States. Some of these companies are international; some are quite small. Schoolteachers also sponsor tours, sometimes by themselves or working with a few other teachers.

International student tours visit over 40 countries, enabling U.S. students to experience, firsthand, the vast historical and cultural differences around the globe. The top 10 international destinations for student trips are, in order: Italy, Spain, Great Britain, France, Austria, China, Germany, Costa Rica, Czech Republic and Australia. Each of these trips is an opportunity to learn and be influenced by experiences that could never happen in a classroom.

Types of Student Foreign Travel (SFT) and School District Involvement

SFT can fall into three categories:

1. School sponsored and school district managed. The trip is school sponsored, and the school district manages the trip. The school district arranges all aspects of the trip — itinerary, travel arrangements, lodging, tours, restaurants, local guides, ground transportation, etc.
2. School sponsored and tour company managed. The trip is school sponsored, and the school district contracts with a tour company to manage the trip.
3. Non-school sponsored. A trip takes place that involves students of the district, perhaps even with a teacher serving as the host, but the trip is not sponsored by the district. These are private trips.

Is the Trip School Sponsored or Not? Do You Know?

Every trip involving children who are students in the district should be thought of as either school sponsored or non-school sponsored. A school district’s liability hinges on this distinction. The answer should be very clear to the district and, most importantly, to the parents. The issue is complex, sometimes, because the answer is the result of a variety of factors — not one single fact — and they do not always have equal weight. What may seem to be a non-school sponsored trip to one person may appear differently to another.

Does Our District Need a Policy on SFT?

A school district that sponsors SFT needs a policy to ensure that the planning and management of the trip will be done with the requisite degree of professionalism and due diligence. This is necessary whether or not you use a tour company.

If your school district does not sponsor SFT, it is also important to have a policy. That policy is your first step in giving notice to staff and parents that any foreign travel trip will not be school sponsored. It also should provide procedures to employees who consider sponsoring a private tour in order to minimize the chance that students and parents will presume the tour to be school sponsored. For example, employees should not use school time or resources to promote, discuss or manage the tour; include disclaimers in their materials and obtain written acknowledgements that the tour is not school-sponsored from participants.

What Should Be Included in a Policy Permitting School Sponsored Trips?

Click here to read the full article