Mercer Island board approves international field trip to France for middle- and high-school French students

The Mercer Island School District Board of Directors approved an international student field trip to France for Islander Middle School and Mercer Island High School French students after a presentation and questions about funding, supervision and safety.

The trip, presented by the French teacher at Islander Middle School, is planned for April 12–20 and would last 11 days. Students would stay in a hostel in Montpellier, attend school there for two days at the Courles de la Somption in the city center, travel to Paris by high-speed train on April 19, and stay in a hotel in Paris with three to four students per room. The teacher said breakfast and dinner would be provided at the Montpellier hostel and breakfast at the Paris hotel; evening meals in Paris would be at local restaurants.

The teacher described the educational aims as giving students real-life French-language practice, exposure to French culture and architecture, and increased classroom motivation and fluency. She said the trip is reciprocal with students from Montpellier visiting Mercer Island March 1–12, so local students would already have met their French peers before traveling.

Board members and parents asked about cost, equity and student safety. The teacher said the per-student cost is $4,100 based on an 18-student group and that parents are financially responsible; she has submitted grant applications to provide scholarships and said organizers would accept more students if the district provided a third chaperone when the group exceeds 20. A parent asked what safety measures were in place; district staff and the teacher said the trip must comply with district overnight and international-trip policies, that the tour company is insured and experienced, and that a lead teacher at the partner school in Montpellier will coordinate activities and supervision. The district’s risk-management staff member was credited with assisting on the back end.

After discussion, a board member moved to approve the international travel; another board member seconded the motion. The board voted in favor and the motion passed.

The teacher and the district reiterated that final participation depends on parental commitment and payment, completion of required parent/student agreements and adherence to district overnight-field-trip rules, including behavioral expectations and financial responsibility for students sent home for disciplinary reasons. The district also noted additional supervision provided by the partner school and the third-party tour operator would be layered on top of district chaperone ratios.

The board’s approval authorizes staff to proceed with district-sponsored planning subject to district policies and procedures; specific trip enrollment, scholarship awards and final logistics remain to be completed before travel.

Notes: the board presentation identified the tour operator’s founders and a program adviser by first name; the transcript referenced prior hosting and experience with the operator but did not provide third-party company contract details or final scholarship funding amounts.