Nature's Classroom trip back in Tahanto plans

BOYLSTON – Sixth-graders will likely be going to Nature’s Classroom after all.

It will be a shorter trip – two days and one night rather than four days and three nights - and a shorter drive – Charlton rather than Ocean Beach in Maine.

The Tahanto Regional School Committee got an update on plans Tuesday night as an alternative trip was withdrawn from the committee’s consideration. The Nature’s Classroom trip will be on a future agenda for approval.

Tahanto Principal Diane Tucceri said the sixth-grade team had several meetings over the past couple of months as the decision to not go to Nature’s Classroom this year raised the ire of parents who lobbied for the trip.

The trip is now proposed to occur in June with an overnight trip to the Nature’s Classroom in Charlton, she said as parents filled the audience at the meeting.

She said the team will “ensure activities for those two days align with the science activities we are doing this year.”

The trip had been canceled and an alternative planned based on curriculum, as well as dropping participation over recent years. The trip had been in place for many years, and committee member Clif LaPorte said the program director had told him that dropping participation was observed by many schools over several years for classes that went later in the year.

The option may be to have the trip earlier in the school year.

“The team has said for this trip, it will happen regardless of the participation rate,” Tucceri said, skirting a factor that contributed to the initial decision. “Because it is a condensed two-day trip, the team will be better able to plan activities that align with the standard.”

LaPorte raised concerns about why some might not participate.

“I would hope that the team will work hard to find out what those reasons are and work with those children and their families,” he said, adding that if the issue is financial, he hoped ways could be found to make that “a non-issue.”

Tucceri said the team works hard on that since some are reluctant to acknowledge financial issues, though some simply choose not to spend their money on that trip.

“I think this is an interesting response to the issues,” member Susan Henry said, adding she was happy to hear everyone had worked together to find a solution.

Chairman James Spencer said he would like to see some feedback at some point on what was learned and the best way to provide feedback to the committee.

The school board has to approve out of state trips and overnight excursions.

Henry said the policy committee is looking at making changes to policies regarding “legacy field trips that have been in place so long they have become an expectation in the community.”

Spencer said the School Committee role is to empower the educators.

While “not every resolution solves everybody’s challenge,” Spencer said, “it goes a long way when we come together as a community.”

Teachers had some thoughts on the matter.

In the statement from the Berlin-Boylston Educator’s Association, teacher William Whitehead said that “field trips are used to enhance established curriculum and promote learning beyond the classroom.”

The statement noted logistic components to a trip and that it “needs to add value to the experience of all students to make it worth replacing the standard classroom experience.”

Decisions to no longer use trips that had been traditionally offered “are not made lightly,” the association said. Decisions “are always made with the best interest of the kids at the forefront” and activities must be carefully considered especially if participation rates drop.

“Teachers want to make sure that their time spent educating is reaching the maximum number of students possible,” Whitehead said.

No Boylston rep

Having already extended the timeline for interested Boylston residents to step forward for consideration, the town’s third seat on the School Committee remains vacant.

When Lorie Martiska resigned in November, the committee put the word out that the board would interview and appoint a Boylston resident to fill the spot.

The timeline was extended due to lack of response, but the board still had no individuals to consider for its agenda item Tuesday night.

“If you know anyone,” Spencer said in encouraging people to step forward. There were numerous parents in attendance early in the meeting before the board discussed the Nature’s Classroom decision.

“The School Committee positions are extremely important roles within our community,” Spencer said, giving those who serve “the opportunity to give back to your community.”

He noted the appointment would be temporary – until the fall election, at which point a person appointed to the committee could decide whether to run for a full term. Many School Committee members over the years have started as appointees who then ran for full terms.

“It is a role we do need to fill. It is important,” Spencer said. Later in the meeting, lack of the sixth member, which has resulted in a committee makeup of three Berlin residents and two Boylston residents, impacted the board assigning roles.

Reorganizing

The board reorganized Tuesday, a process that typically occurs after the May town elections.

However, the new regional setup will see elections every two years, and in November, aligning with the state elections.

So the new committee organization will in the future occur in January, with LaPorte explaining the new timing even though there was no recent election.

Getting into that process, the board reorganized, choosing Boylston member Spencer as chairman, Berlin member Henry as vice chairman and Boylston member Keith Lewis as clerk.

Henry said she was not sure she wanted to accept the vice chairmanship, asking if there was an assumption that the vice chairman will later become chairman.

“It is my intention not to become chairman,” Henry said.

Spencer said it was not a necessary progression.

“I did not take it (vice chairman, which he was last year) on the basis I would become chairman,” Spencer said.

But he did acknowledge LaPorte’s 2½-year chairmanship during a busy period in which the board worked on many things, the largest being regionalizing the towns’ schools from multiple school districts into one.

“I hope I can fill (the position) as well as you did,” Spencer said to LaPorte after they switched seats and rearranged name plates.