Tuesday October 28, 2025 | LANGFORD, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
On tonight’s Sooke School District (SD62) board meeting agenda, there is a standard item of approving school field trips.
Two trips are listed for approval requests at the October 28, 2025 meeting:
- École John Stubbs Middle School student exchange to Quebec, February 2026. Organized by Mellissa Ryan, Ashlyn Buxcey, and Angelina Hendry. For an immersion experience in a French-speaking community. [Cost to students: $1,000 each]
- Royal Bay Secondary School student trip to Amherst, Massachusetts, June 11 to 15, 2026. Organized by Melissa Horner and Lucas MacNeil. For exposure to NCAA football coaches for scholarship opportunities. [Cost to students: $1,500 each]
Board-level approval requires a review of learning worthiness of a trip as well as financial considerations and an evaluation of safety.
Very often there has been a considerable amount of fundraising done by students and their families. The board usually takes into consideration the work involved in that.
The cost of travel insurance adjustments or cancellations also sometimes requires consideration.
USA border concerns:
When Trump was first elected in 2016 there were board concerns over the safety of students at border-crossing, particularly if they were international students or had other types of situations that could be challenged.
In the first-term Trump years some SD62 teachers with field trip requests to a US destination were asked to reorganize their trips for Canadian locations.
Starting October 24, 2025 the US border experience now includes a mandatory taking of a photo of each person entering the US from Canada.
The current request for the trip to Massachusetts implies that students would want to relocate to the United States if offered a football scholarship.
Meeting link:
The SD62 October 28, 2025 public board meeting agenda and livestream link are online.
===== SD62 NEWS:
Island Social Trends editor Mary P Brooke has covered SD62 and K-12 education news since 2014 (former publication West Shore Voice News 2014-2020).
===== RELATED:
NEWS SECTIONS: SD62 SOOKE SCHOOL DISTRICT | K-12 EDUCATION & SCHOOLS | CANADA-USA