Divided school board approves policy on overnight and field trips
A divided Frederick County Board of Education has approved a policy governing field trips and overnight trips, over the objections of critics who want the board to first address a broader policy on gender identity.
The newly approved trip policy, Policy 414, passed 4-3. It sets guidelines for travel, but does not specifically address gender identity.
The three board members who voted no to the travel policy — Jaime Brennan, Nancy Allen and Colt Black — said they were concerned that it does not let parents know about the possibility of their children sharing a room with a student of another biological sex.
They said the board must first address Policy 443, which says that students can 'room with others according to their gender identity.'
Policy 443 also instructs Frederick County Public Schools staff to 'make efforts to accommodate any student who desires greater privacy.'
Since Policy 443 is not currently up for review until May, approving Policy 414 means that students are able to room with others according to their gender identity because it is not prohibited.
Policy 414 also states that any required field trip will be at no cost to students, and that, in most cases, only high school students are permitted to attend overnight field trips.
The policy adds that 'all students must have the opportunity to participate on field trips,' and that overnight trips are voluntary.
Four board members voted in favor — Rae Gallagher, Dean Rose, Karen Yoho and Janie Inglis Monier.
FCPS staff members said parents are given the names of who their child will room with on overnight stays but no other identifying information, such as gender identity.
During a discussion of the policy on March 12, the board debated what information the district could share about students on trips.
Gallagher said notifying parents about other students' gender identity would be problematic since 'students have a right to privacy about their personal information' and there could be legal concerns to sharing that information.
Black asked if a student's privacy would still be violated if the student were not identified and the notification were 'just stating that' their child would be rooming with someone with another biological sex.
'That gives the parent the opportunity to say yes or no to the trip,' he said.
Rose said because that part of the field trip policy is governed by Policy 443, the discussion would be better suited for when the gender identity policy is reviewed.
Steven Blivess, chief legal counsel for FCPS, said Policy 443 'indicates to the community that' students rooming with other students on overnight field trips that do not share the same biological sex 'is a possibility.'
He added that parents or guardians of students attending an overnight field trip are provided the names of the others students their child is rooming with.
'So, if you are notified by name that Johnny is going to be rooming with Jamie, you have now identified the student,' Blivess said, creating a made-up scenario. 'If you give that notification that you're suggesting, because they're identified by name, you are then revealing their private information.'
Black asked why students' names had to be revealed at all.
Tom Saunders, director of middle schools for FCPS, said it was important to remember that the overnight trips are mostly for high school students, and the trips are voluntary.
'With high school students, you have got to remember that they probably are aware, potentially, of the people they're rooming with, and it's encouraged that they're selecting people they want to room with,' he said.
Saunders added that if any student attending an overnight field trip feels uncomfortable 'for whatever reason,' they can explain the issue to the teacher in charge prior to the trip.
'Sometimes that's health. Sometimes that's previous bullying situations, or whatever the case may be, and including what we're talking about now,' he said.
Brennan said she also had other concerns about overnight trips. She said she learned that when her son went on an overnight field trip, despite the fact that there are rules in place, 'there's unsupervised time.'
'There's not a teacher or a chaperone standing outside the doorway at lights out. That's the reality, and that's just part of the considerations that you have to make as a parent,' she said. 'It's concerning.'
Brennan added that her personal opinion, which is in line with Allen and Black, is that the field trip policy and the gender identity policy should be reviewed at the same time in Policy Committee 'because they are so closely aligned.'
'Otherwise, I see that we could potentially be going back and amending it,' she said.
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