Elkton teacher urges Rockingham board to preserve overnight field trips; board delays policy change

Nicholas Zimmerman, a Family and Consumer Sciences teacher at Elkton Middle School and assistant cheer coach at East Rockingham High School, urged the Rockingham County School Board to reconsider proposed changes to the district's field-trip policy that would discourage overnight trips for Career and Technical Student Organizations such as FCCLA.

"The proposed policy change indicates that overnight field trips would be discouraged," Zimmerman told the board during public comment, saying overnight trips provide hands-on leadership development, competition opportunities and collaboration for students in grades 6 through 12.

Board members acknowledged the concern and said the wording that currently uses the phrase "overnight trips are discouraged" has existed in the policy for years. Chair Hurst said the board and staff are not trying to discourage trips and that they plan to "look for better language." The board said it will meet individually with CTE teachers to collect feedback before revising the policy.

Members emphasized the practical difficulties of implementing policy changes midyear and said they prefer design and implementation during the summer. "We're definitely not ready for action," the chair said, adding that they would collect feedback from teachers and review proposed language before scheduling a vote.

The exchange reflected broader board concerns about timing: members said some policy changes require extended planning and fundraising by families and schools and agreed to delay formal action so revisions can be crafted with input from affected teachers and parents. The board indicated a plan to return with proposed language and a recommendation for a future meeting this summer.