Dec. 09--In the wake of the shooting and bombing attacks that killed 130 people in Paris last month, some high schools in Lake County are taking a second look at plans to send students on overseas study trips -- especially when the destination is northern Europe.
Warren Township High School District 121's school board tentatively approved plans to send groups of students to Spain in March and France in June, with another trip to Australia and New Zealand scheduled for 2017, Superintendent John Ahlgrim said.
"As of this time, we have not changed our plans," Ahlgrim said. But he said the school board will discuss it at a meeting next week "due to the critical nature of the issue."
District 121 officials plan to talk about what factors they should weigh in deciding whether to go ahead with a scheduled trip or change plans, as well as what alternatives both the district and individual families would have if they decide they're not comfortable with the risk, Ahlgrim said.
At a Zion-Benton Township High School District 126 meeting in November, district officials discussed similar concerns about a spring break trip to France, Spain and Germany for foreign language students.
France, in particular, was "of great concern to us," Superintendent Chris Clark said at the meeting.
Clark said the district was still "in research mode" and was in talks with the company that arranged the trip about options for rerouting to destinations they felt would be safer or seeking refunds, if necessary.
Erin Subedi, regional director for EF Educational Tours, a company both districts use for student travel, noted the State Department has not issued a warning recommending against travel to Paris or other European destinations.
Although the department did issue a worldwide travel alert warning of "possible risks of travel due to increased terrorist threats" expiring in February, alerts fall short of travel warnings, which indicate travelers should "consider very carefully whether you should go to a country at all," according to the State Department website.
The "vast majority" of groups EF Educational Tours works with are sticking to their original itineraries, often planned up to two years before departure, Subedi said. But schools that remain worried about students' safety can choose to revise their itinerary, change destinations, delay their trip or take refunds in the form of vouchers redeemable for future travel, Subedi said.
The company is also waiving the fees they would typically charge for last-minute changes, she said.
School District 95 may survey parents of the Lake Zurich High School marching band before deciding whether or not to allow next school year's field trip to Paris.
"We want to hear what parents have to say," school board President Doug Goldberg said.
Discussing the matter last week, board members seemed to be in favor of giving stakeholders a chance to voice their opinion through the survey.
"If you have 80 percent of the parents say, 'I'm not comfortable with it,' then there is a discussion that should be had," board member Kathy Brown said. "[But] I don't think it will be like that."
Lake Zurich High School Principal Kent Nightlinger said he had not heard any serious concerns from parents about the trip, so far. If anything, he's heard the opposite.
