Batavia board approves international student trip to Germany and Switzerland

The Batavia Board of Education approved a proposal to take students on an international trip to Germany with a day trip into Austria and stops in Liechtenstein and Switzerland, the board heard during its meeting.

Trip organizer Jeanine Schenholl presented the itinerary, saying the trip would include visits to Rothenburg, Munich and Dachau in Germany; Salzburg and a salt-mine tour in Austria; a brief stop in Liechtenstein; and Lucerne and Heidelberg in Switzerland. Schenholl said the district already had six students enrolled and that parents had been told they would receive refunds if the board did not approve the trip.

Board members voted on a motion to approve the international trip proposal. Miss Anderson moved the motion and Miss Landay seconded; the motion was approved by voice vote. The board did not record an itemized roll-call tally in the public transcript.

Schenholl told the board the earlier summer trip that had been approved would proceed with 16 students, three parents and three teachers. For the new trip she requested early approval so families could use extended payment schedules; she said she did not have an exact per-student price available during the presentation. She said fundraising has generally been handled by families rather than centrally because of logistical difficulties when collecting and disbursing funds.

Schenholl said the minimum enrollment for the trip is six students and that the district plans to provide one chaperone (teacher) per six students. She also described that the company handling travel sometimes pairs groups from different schools and that this year an alternate pairing added two bonus days and an extra country for some travelers.

The board’s approval authorizes the trip as described in Schenholl’s presentation. The district did not publish a per-student cost in the meeting transcript, nor did the board record additional conditions or contingencies in the motion text.