By Pete McIntyre

School District sets guidelines for student trips amid coronavirus outbreak

Mar 6, 2020 | 12:50 PM

The Vernon School District’s board of education met this week to discuss the status of school trips over spring break, and the impact on those from the coronavirus outbreak.

“The board considered all of the available information, regarding COVID-19, from a number of reliable and recommended resources. The primary concern of the board is the safety of our students,” Maritza Reilly, communications with School District 22, said.

After the meeting, the board decided to continue to approve the trips, but set out several guidelines to ensure student safety.

Among those, if the federal government includes a travel advisory for COVID-19 for one of the trip destinations, prior to the departure, the trip approval will be rescinded.

Families can also also remove their child from the trip if they choose.

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Travel insurance coverage is the responsibility of the tour companies and/or the parents, and parents are encouraged to work with the teacher(s) leading the tour to determine refund policies and amounts.

The board stated participants have to clearly understand the potential that students may be quarantined either overseas or on their return to Canada. This is a tour provider and/or parent responsibility.

Students on the trips will be encouraged to wash hands, use hand-sanitizer, and wipe down hard surfaces on the plane.

About three dozen North Okanagan students and parents recently decided to postpone a trip to Greece and Italy due to the virus, and could go later this summer.

A number of school trips to Quebec and the United States later in the spring will be evaluated by the district 22 board closer to the departure date.

Aside from the trips, Reilly said the district’s custodial team is providing extra support to the schools with all of the talk about coronavirus concerns.

“They have been ensuring hard surfaces are cleaned and are encouraging schools to promote the importance of hand washing to the students and staff,” she said.

by Pete McIntyre

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