O’side cancels school trips to Europe

The Oceanside School District has canceled three high school trips to Europe in the wake of a Worldwide Travel Alert from the U.S. Department of State.

“It’s unfortunate that we’re in this situation but we had to make a decision that we felt was in the best interest for the safety and security of our students and faculty,” said Phyllis Harrington, Oceanside Superintendent of Schools. “Hopefully next year we won’t be in this situation. That’s my hope.”

The three trips, initially to Italy, Spain and France, were set to take place from Feb. 10 to 20, during a school break, and were open to Oceanside High School students. A trip for high school science students to the Galapagos Islands in the same week will proceed as scheduled.

After the terrorist attacks in Paris on Nov. 13, the district planned to change the trip to France to a trip to another European country, most likely Switzerland, and make some modifications to the trip to Spain so that students did not spend a night in Madrid.

The travel alert, which was issued on Nov. 23, advises U.S. citizens to be cautious and vigilant when traveling abroad in the wake of worldwide terrorist activity, especially when visiting public places or using transportation. The travel alert expires on Feb. 24.

"We didn’t kneejerk react, we were very strategic,” said Harrington. “But once that alert came out we just couldn’t ignore it.” The district canceled all three trips soon after the alert was issued.

When Harrington made the announcement at the Dec. 15 Board of Educaiton meeting, she also praised the skill of David Rose, Director of World Languages and ESL, for working with the travel companies to reduce cost of the cancelation penalties.

“I give so much credit to Dr. Rose, who has been working diligently with three different touring companies in terms of getting them to do [the] most they could do to minimize the financial impact on our families,” said Harrington. “And he was incredibly successful in that regard.”

When families send their children on these trips, they send payments directly to the travel company, which provides an itinerary and transportation. Fees paid by students cover the cost of teacher chaperones.