My daughter's 4th grade class is going on a field trip next month. It's a boat ride down a river. The place is about an hour and half away. There are 27 kids in her class. Her teacher is in her early twenties, this is her first year teaching. The other 4th grade class is going as well--the teacher is physically disabled, so a substitute teacher will be going in her place. The substitute is a retired teacher from the school. The permission slip states that there will be no parent chaperons. There isn't enough room on the boat for parents to come along.

I called the school to see if per chance any other staff members were going, said I'm concerned about the adult to child ratio. The secretary wasn't sure. She said she would get back to me. My daughter came home today letting me know her teacher will call me. I know from experience that most schools for children that age require a 10:1 child/adult ratio for field trips, but I don't want to make a thing out of it with the school. This is a small town. The school district consists of the elementary school and the high school--that's it. Bringing it to the superintendent's attention won't do a bit of good.

If it's truly only two adults to almost 60 kids, I'm leaning toward not letting her go. Daughter is upset because she knows that's a possibility.

Am I being over-protective? What would you do?

I'd want to see 4 adults minimum.


SV

If you are concerned but wish your child to get the experience, why not volunteer to help the teachers? If you approach it in the right way, they would probably welcome the assistance.

Just a thought.

I would be very concerned too. Do you know anything about the children in the classes? Are they well behaved? How many adults come along with the boat? Just the captain? Or does the boat have other staff members that will be along? Instead of both classes on the boat at the same time, can they shorten the time so more school chaperones could attend?

Good luck. It's hard to not allow, or consider not allowing, something we know our children would really like to do or attend.

Oops, sorry for missing that. I would probably speak to the school administration and see if something can be changed. Depending on the state, a 1:20 ratio is pushing the limits of what is allowed in child care settings when they are in an enclosed and controlled environment. There may be different statutes for schools. However, when children are leaving school grounds and doing something like getting in a boat, there should be minimum standards in terms of supervision.

The children are better behaved than average.

I didn't think about anyone being on the boat besides the captain. If there's other staff on the boat that would make a difference, not on the bus ride, but at least on the water. Her teacher hasn't called me yet, so I'll definitely ask about it. She probably won't know herself, but it's worth checking into.

I think the number of chaperons depends, in part, on what sort of trip it is. I would think that on a boat ride, at least while on the water, I would want a higher ratio. After all, accidents can happen and they are, I am sure, free to move around some. I think it would be different if they were going, say, to a play or some place where they aren't wandering around.

On the bus I wouldn't worry. You have the teachers and at least one bus driver.

Then again, when we went to see San Juan Capistrano as part of our 4th grade Mission project, we had just our teacher and 30+ students. Of course she also had the ability to make us fall in line, and (in a worse case scenario) there were a bunch of museum staff.

Agree with above.

That many kids running around with so few adults is a bit scary. Being that this is on a boat on water, I think the normal ratio should actually be higher. Chances are that nothing eventful will happen, but if it does, only two people in charge is a bit worrisome.

We went to a Braves game in 4th grade and there was one parent for every 5 children. The only other time there were parent chaperones were when Stone Mountain had a Native American Festival. Other than those two field trips, no parent chaperones. They've been to the Center of Puppetry Arts, the Coca Cola Museum, Fernbank Science Museum and the Georgia Aquarium. I don't know how they decide when they need the chaperones and when they don't. Pretty much all of these field trips have had numerous schools visit at the same time.

What makes the boat ride different than other field trips.. other than it is on water? Can your child swim? It would concern me more if my child couldn't swim.

Lisa

I lean towards not letting her go. However, if you do let her go, make sure that every child is required to wear a life vest during the ride. Laws may require there be a life vest, but not all require them to be worn.

My concern is this: If something happens to one child that requires a teacher's attention, especially if it requires the child to be taken elsewhere (hospital, for example) you have one adult/one child (a bad situation) and one adult/59 children (an even worse situation). I would say you need at least 4 adults for such a trip. If there is not enough room for parents or other adults, then there is not enough room for that many children.

Learner

+1

I'm actually taking a somewhat similar trip in a month or so, not on a boat, but to a State park and we're going to have around 10 adults for about 60 children. I think that is a good ratio. Two adults for 60 kids is just not enough.

To quote Jaws:

We need a bigger boat...


For all the parents who should be coming along. I'd say: yes, the trip is understaffed.
--Ann