Great Valley board debates standardizing overnight student trip funding and fairness

Superintendent and district staff told the Great Valley School Board at its June work session that the district has inconsistent practices about which overnight student-trip expenses it pays and asked the board to direct staff to write formal policy language.

The superintendent said a review dating back to 2017 showed uneven treatment of expenses such as substitute coverage, chaperone lodging and travel, transportation to airports and use of charter buses. "I went as far back as 2017 to look at what our more recent history has been when it comes to overnight trips," the superintendent said, adding that the goal is to "embed [these items] in our field trip policy."

Board members pressed for specifics and expressed concern that some district-funded trips primarily benefit students who can afford high out-of-pocket costs. "I have trouble with that. I really do. I don't I don't like that feels, how it feels," a board member said when characterizing school-sponsored trips that many families cannot afford. Another board member described the typical private cost cited in the meeting: "I can't offer you anything now, I agree with Mr. Barrett. We're not gonna be able to offset the 3,800," referring…