Board weighs cuts and new rules for field trips, overnight policy and funding categories

Elizabethtown Area School District trustees on May 13 discussed changes to how the district funds field trips, whether to tighten overnight-trip discipline rules and a move to reclassify trip categories for cost-cutting.

The discussion matters because the board is reviewing which trips it will continue to fund after the administration combined the prior category-2 (partially district-funded) and category-3 (fully student-funded) trips into a single non-district-funded category, leaving only category-1 trips as district-funded. That reclassification means more trips will require fundraisers, donations or outside funding to run.

Administrators explained how the historical three-tier system worked: category 1 events have been considered district funded (curricular alignment), category 2 had been split funding, and category 3 was paid by participating students or groups. To reduce costs during this budget cycle, the administration collapsed categories 2 and 3 into one category so only trips with clear curricular alignment remain in the district-funded bucket. The administration said that when it brings the August list for board approval, it will show category-1 trips that are built into the budget and category-2 trips that must be self-funded.

Board members and public commenters raised multiple concerns: how the district decides whether a trip is curricular or extracurricular (the district acknowledged the criteria are largely historical and not written), whether high-revenue programs such as the agricultural program (FFA) should be treated differently given the program’s fundraising and revenue generation, and whether fees such as a $10,000 drone-entry fee flagged during a deep dive were being categorized consistently.

Administrators said they will work with building principals and committee members to develop a documented rubric or written criteria that will make future categorization more consistent. They also said that some districts are revising policies specifically for overnight trips, and the Elizabethtown board will consider a policy addressing overnight conduct, discipline and approval processes so the district can continue valuable overnight experiences while setting stronger behavioral rules and enforcement mechanisms.

The board did not adopt new policy language at the workshop; staff will bring a proposed rubric and draft overnight guidance for committee review and eventual board consideration. The administration reminded trustees that they will vote on approved field trips at the August meeting and that those votes will reflect the new two-category approach.

Public-commenters and some board members urged the district to preserve high-value, curricular or experiential trips (for example, longer regional trips to museums, Gettysburg or Washington, D.C.) while eliminating lower-value or redundant trips; others urged clearer equitable access and funding strategies for families who cannot afford some experiences.

The board asked the administration to provide a refined list of field trips and recommended criteria ahead of August approvals so trustees and the public can review which events will be district-funded and which will require fundraising or other sources.