Board approves day field trips, delays overnight trips pending safety policy; amendment passes 6–2

The Elizabethtown Area School District Board on Aug. 26 approved the district’s anticipated day field trips for the 2025–26 school year but postponed approval of overnight trips after members said they want clearer safety procedures for overnight chaperoning and student security.

After an initial motion to approve the anticipated field trips, board member Mister Riggleman moved an amendment—seconded by another board member—removing overnight trips from the vote until the Education Planning Committee and administration develop a policy. The amendment passed on a roll-call vote, 6–2. The two no votes were recorded as Mister Reed and Missus Carter. The board then approved the remaining day trips by roll-call vote.

Why it matters: Students, parents and clubs told the board the change in field-trip prioritization threatens access to competitions, educational trips and extracurricular experiences such as Model UN, quiz bowl and music festivals. Students and parents asked the board to keep trips accessible to all families and to adopt safety measures for overnight travel.

Safety debate and proposed fixes Board member Riggleman pressed for a specific operational change he said other districts use: a tamper-evident marker (described in testimony as a sticker) on room door jams that chaperones can check overnight; breaking the sticker would prompt disciplinary action and removal from a trip. Superintendent Dr. Nell replied that the administration will implement ideas the board directs it to implement and that she acts at the majority will of the board: "If the rest of you are in support of that or 5 of you are in support of that, we will happily revise our overnight field trip procedure to account for that," she said.

Dr. Nell also said overnight procedures and ideas like stickers will be discussed in the Education Planning Committee and that administration evaluates trips case by case based on location, number of students and other variables.

Public comment and club funding concerns Students and parents criticized changes to how the district classifies and funds field trips and club travel. Seniors and club leaders said reclassifying many trips to a lower-priority category removes district support for transportation, registration and substitute coverage, forcing students to fundraise or pay out of pocket. Student Hannah Taylor, a senior and Model UN member, told the board cutting district support for Model UN would be "a major disservice to our students."

Votes at a glance - Agenda items 1 and 3–9 (consent/finance/operational items, including propane contract, E-Rate contract, WAVE tuitions, donation authorizations, credit card user list, partnership with Modernize Optical, and emergency operations plan posting) — approved by consensus roll-call vote. (All members voting "yes" on the consensus roll call as announced.) - Item 2 (anticipated field trips 2025–26) — initial motion brought to the board; amendment to remove overnight trips passed 6–2 (No: Mister Reed, Missus Carter); the day trips were then approved by roll call. - Item 10 (Bainbridge camera replacement, higher-end kit to read license plates) — approved by roll call (affirmative votes recorded). - Finance report (year-end projections as presented) — approved by roll call. - Personnel report (candidates introduced: Gabriel Oliveira for director of operations; Jessica Paletti for shared HS/MS assistant principal) — approved by roll call pending paperwork.

Attribution and process notes Where motions were not tied to an on-record speaker name in the public transcript, the board recorded motions and seconds during the meeting; roll-call tallies were read by the board secretary. The superintendent repeatedly said administration will move when five board members explicitly instruct a change, and that some procedural work will take place in committee before district-wide implementation.

Next steps The Education Planning Committee will consider revisions to overnight field-trip procedures and report back to the full board. Administration and committee work is intended to produce a policy or operational procedure that can be adopted before overnight trips are scheduled and approved.