End of year staff meeting- official and unofficial

The official end of the year staff meeting occured on the second to last day of school, immediately after dismisal. The majority of staff were tired and somewhat distracted by all of the work they had left to do. In our district, our classrooms need to be completely packed up at the end of the year ( i feel that this process creates unnecessary extra work, but I will write more about that at another time). As we took our seats in the corwded computer lab in the library, my eyes noticed the agenda, with a list of items all the way to the bottom of the page.

One of the the items was field trips. The boss seemed pleased that so many teachers were taking their students on field trips. He noted that a few years ago, people were reluctant to take their students out of the building. He went on to say that he is bothered by the fact that some students were left behind this year and that next year all students needed to go on the trips. He said that when students don't go on trips they feel unloved and unwanted. He said we are not providing the same quality of education. I raised my hand and tried to make the point that it does not make sense to make a broad ruling when there are so many individual situations. I added that children who are safety concerns should not be taken out of the building, and that children who are safety concerns are different than children who are annoying or simply misbehaving without endangering anyone. Well this opened quite a can of worms.

One person said that if these kids are so dangerous they dont belong in our school. This may be true but it is out of our hands as teachers.

The boss suggested that we tell these kids parents that they need to come or that the child will not be able to go. In theory thats a great suggestion. In reality it doesnt always work because parents say they will go and then don't show up at the last minute, cannot take time out of work, or are unable to pay the money for chaperone entrance. Some people said that they had better luck getting certain parents to attend the field trips. Others added that those kids who were challenging in the classroom did much better on field trips. Someone suggested that we actuall pay parents as an incentive to get them to participate on field trips.

That is absurd. parents should not be compensated for doing their job. I know of another city were parents are paid for taking their children to the pediatrician's office and keeping immunization appointments. I think that is ridiculus too. When you decide to become a parent, there are certain responsibilities that come with the job.

So a lot of people had something to say. A lot of people had a reaction about field trips and the best way to handle that. Debate is good and healthy, if we listen to and carefully consider all of the points that are being made. The boss said that we would need to continue the conversation when school resumed in the fall.

Having had a few days to think about this, I have formed some opinions:
I think that if I as the classroom teacher feel that one student is unsafe in his behavior, that those feelings and appropriate documentation should be considered before the boss rules that all children must go on any particular field trip.

I also think that parental involvement with these particualr children is especially crucial but I also recognize that not all parents can or want to be involved as a chaperone.

So we will see what happens to this conversation in the fall

The unofficial meeting, when a few of us went out after the last day was a lot less heated and a lot more enjoyable. Good food, stories, and laughter. It was so relaxing to be out with some of the people from work.