Oh the places you won't go!

I am hesitant to touch this issue as I have mixed feelings on the subject.  I really should just let it go and hope it blows over, but.... I give myself such very good advice and I very seldom follow it, so I'm going to go full steam ahead and tackle this topic anyway.

Last week the school board discussed new guidelines regarding weekend travel. These guidelines have come as a result of a huge uproar last month about a band trip taken by Pasco High School. So first lets talk about what happened to start this drama, and then we'll talk about the results.

There is a marching band competition every year in Everett. The bands from Chiawana and Pasco High go most years but not every year. There are actually several big marching band competitions around the state each year (including one here called Cavalcade of Bands) and both high schools attend about three competitions per year. Of those three one of them is usually an over-nighter.  The reason these trips are over night is because they begin early in the morning and go late into the night. In order to be at a competition on the other side of the state our band kids would need to get on a bus at 4 AM, compete all day long, and then hop back on a bus at midnight to ride four or five hours back home. It's not practical. This year, for the Everett trip, Chiawana left Friday night and spent the night in Everett. They competed all day Saturday and came home late that night arriving around 2AM on Sunday. Pasco High decided to do something different. They decided to leave early Saturday morning and stay in Everett that night. So both schools had planned to stay overnight one night in order to avoid the extreme fatigue of an early morning AND a late night combined.

What was not mentioned was that PHS wanted to spend the next day (Sunday) in Seattle site seeing. It was a fun trip, but a trip without a purpose. The school board denied this overnight request (I have no idea why the trip was denied. There are a million reasons that have been suggested: extended trip lacked educational value, paper work wasn't filed on time, some didn't like the idea of Sunday travel. Whether the truth is among these reasons is unknown.) People were in an uproar claiming that the board was retaliating against teachers by canceling a student trip. The truth is, however, the trip was NEVER being canceled. It was just being shortened. They were still being allowed to go and to compete.  If they had won they would have been traveling home at the same time as the CHS team Saturday night.   But after the huge fuss that was made, the board relented and allowed the students to stay overnight after all. Unfortunately PHS was eliminated in the early rounds of the competition and could have easily been home by 9PM Saturday night. With the boards permission though they stayed over night and spent Sunday out touristing the Seattle area. There were a small number of parents who wanted their kids home early, so they went and picked them up Saturday night and brought them home. 

The truth is this trip (and it's alleged cancellation) was made out to be a big deal when it shouldn't have been.  People got really worked up over what wasn't a big deal. And because people got really worked up, the board got worked up in return. Now we have  a board that is trying to implement a policy of only allowing one day of weekend travel. They claim this is being done in order to protect family time. And while family time is a noble cause, it shouldn't be used a the scapegoat here. PSD has no problem infringing on family time by busing kids across town for the sake of "balanced" schools.  PSD has no problem taking four and five year olds away from home for the sake of a coveted kinder center or preschool. PSD took teachers to court because they were sure (legally, on paper, totally sure!) that a few extra days of family time was going to cause "irreparable harm" to 17,000 children. But now weekends are sacred?  PSD seems to think the best place for kids to be is at school, so why the sudden turn around? Why do they suddenly care about weekends and family time? 

Teams travel. Bands travel. Clubs travel. Classes travel. Of course we don' want them traveling for no reason. Of course we don't want them gone more than necessary. But can't the rules of reason and logic be applied to each individual situation without needing a blanket policy that bans two day travel on the weekend? If this policy is fully enforced it will stop all kinds of amazing learning opportunities for our students. If it is only partially enforced (ie not letting band kids attend competitions but still sending our football team on to a championship game) there will be huge uproar from the parents whose children are being slighted and the perceived favoritism will land PSD in another lawsuit.

This is just one more example of PSD's over-reaching policies infringing on families' rights. They apparently don't trust parents to make good decisions for their own children. They don't trust that parents know when to say no. They don't trust that parents can decide what is best.

It's also another way PSD is showing they don't trust their teachers. They can't trust teachers to choose positive learning opportunities for kids. We can't trust teachers to make decisions based on a child's over all well-being. 

I don't blame the board for wanting a policy in place. After the ridiculous hullabaloo people made over the non-issue of the PHS band trip, I'm sure they are just trying to cover their butts. Unfortunately two wrongs don't' make a right. Just because the people who made a fuss about PHS's band trip were a little off base doesn't mean we need a far reaching policy in place to stop all future disagreement. What we need is more dialogue.  I  believe if there had been more dialogue at the board meeting when this issue was first raised, a lot of this confusion could have been cleared up. People could have seen what the real issue was and the board wouldn't need to make this broad policy sweep in order to protect themselves.

So I guess what I'm saying in all this mess is.... the board isn't so wrong this time.

Yes you heard me right. I said the board isn't wrong.

I don't exactly think they are right. But they probably aren't wrong. This time.

They didn't DO anything. They just talked about stuff. I don't agree with everything they said, but they haven't DONE anything the be up in arms about.  They set a guideline (not an engraved in stone commandment), and they discussed how there will have to be exceptions made. In the end, I don't think anything will change. It's all just talk.

BUT...

I could be wrong. We all still need to be aware of what's going on, so that we can raise alarm should things go of track. And when that happens, we will be armed with facts, right people? Let's not go all crazy accusing the board of retaliation when in fact no such thing occurred. Let's not scream that the sky is falling, field trips are being canceled, and that kids are being punished when that is not the case at all.

If we can react civilly, maybe, just maybe the board will respond with cool heads as well.

And then instead of pointing fingers and pacing about worrying about what MIGHT happen, we can actually work together to deal with the things that really are happening.

Maybe.