School Board Says It Can Do Nothing to Finance Students’ Canceled Trips

The San Diego school board told 250 students and parents who packed its Tuesday meeting that it will not be able to loan or give them the money to pay for student tours of the East Coast.

Schools Supt. Tom Payzant said state law precludes local school districts from using their funds either to pay for out-of-state field trips or to make loans.

Students and parents from Wangenheim and Bell junior high schools had paid almost $150,000 to a Mission Valley travel agency for tours of the East Coast that were scheduled to take place this month. Last week, the owners of East West Travel informed the school district that it would have to cancel the trips because of a cash-flow problem. Committees at both schools have been trying to raise enough money to enable the students to take a scaled-down version of the planned trip but are still many thousands of dollars short of their goal.

Individuals who spoke at the meeting said they hoped the district would agree to guarantee the difference between the total cost of the trips and what the schools had been able to raise from corporate and private donations. A lawyer who said he represented the Wangenheim parents submitted a claim for more than $130,000, the amount they had paid East West Travel, to the board.

Guarantee From District Sought

“All we want is that the district guarantee that the trip go on,” said Tom Avey, a Wangenheim parent.

Another Wangenheim parent, Jean McPhee, told the board: “We have proved we have the whole San Diego community behind us with one exception--that’s you.”

Parents and students from both schools said they blamed the school district for not checking on East West Travel more thoroughly before entrusting the agency with their money.

“Students should not pay for your negligence,” Ann Alisa Enrile, a Bell student, told the board.

“The school system was just sitting on its behind, letting East West Travel handle everything,” said Glen Waymire, a Bell parent. “ . . . Let them pay for their own mistake with their own money.”

Board Won’t Break Law

But board members said that, although they will do everything in their power to help the students raise the money they need from private sources (and pulled out their checkbooks to make donations themselves), they will not break the law by making district funds available.

“I’m sick about it, but I have to go along with the advice of our legal office,” board member Kay Davis said.

The parents pointed out that the Cajon Valley School District was able to provide emergency funds to a group from Emerald Junior High that found itself stranded in Washington last week because East West Travel had not paid for hotel rooms or air fare home. Board members said that, in a similar situation, where the health and welfare of students was at stake, they might have done the same thing. But, they said, the situation facing the Wangenheim and Bell students is not the same kind of emergency.

Parents and students expressed anger and disappointment at the board’s announcement.

Counsel to Review Claim

“You’re going to have a hard time convincing the parents that you haven’t let them down,” McPhee told members of the board after the meeting.

The district’s general counsel, Tina Dyer, said she would review the claim presented to the board by attorney James Holzmann and advise the board on how to respond.

Representatives of both schools said they will continue their fund-raising efforts now, rather than wait for a response to their claim.