The Toronto District School Board is cancelling all future trips to the United States, citing “uncertainty” surrounding the country’s travel restrictions.
The TDSB said in a statement that despite the fact an executive order on border restrictions announced earlier this month has been suspended pending the outcome of court challenges, questions about the restrictions and whether they will be reinstated remain.
“There continues to be uncertainty surrounding these new restrictions — specifically with regards to who may be impacted and when,” Dr. John Malloy, TDSB director of education, said in a statement.
“With this in mind, the Toronto District School Board is now faced with a difficult choice.”
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The school board said it could either allow the trips to go forward in hopes that every student was able to cross the border, or cancel the trips outright knowing students could possibly miss out on scholastic and athletic opportunities they had paid for.
“After much consultation and thought, and because at this time, no executive order is in place, we have reached the decision that school trips to the U.S. that have already been approved … will be allowed to proceed to ensure that students do not miss out on these opportunities,” Malloy said, adding there were a total of 24 trips involving around 800 students affected as well as 100 students attending the DECA competition.
“At the same time, no student or staff trips to the U.S. will be booked until further notice.”
A spokeswoman for the Ontario Ministry of Education said in a statement the decision to cancel trips to the U.S. rested entirely with individual school boards in the province.
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“A safe, inclusive and accepting school environment is essential for student achievement and well-being,” Heather Irwin said.
“When it comes to extracurricular activities and field trips, school boards determine the best course of action for their students. We expect that school boards are prioritizing the safety and security of our children and is putting their best interest first.”
Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) spokesman John Yan said in a statement the board had not cancelled trips south of the border, or any other destinations abroad, but added it would continue to “monitor the situation.”
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A spokeswoman for the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board and the Peel District School Board also said they were not cancelling trips to the U.S. “at this time.”
The York Region District School Board said in a statement it was “committed to providing field trip opportunities in a fair and inclusive manner” for its students.
“At this time, previously approved field trips to the United States will continue, with additional provisions for support to our students,” spokeswoman Christina Choo-Hum said.
“We are monitoring the situation to consider potential actions that will ensure that all our traveling students and staff are treated with dignity and respect.”
A Durham District School Board spokesman said in a statement they “continue to monitor this issue daily” but have not cancelled any scheduled trips to the U.S. Other school boards in the Greater Toronto Area did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Halton Catholic District School Board Superintendent of Education Tim Overholt said in a statement the board has no plans to cancel approved trips to the U.S.
“However, we will continue to monitor the potential issue of crossing the border, as is our regular practice,” he said.
“Any school trip in which one or more students or staff members are not permitted into the United States, all students and staff will return back to their school.”
The TDSB said it was important to note that if the executive order is fully implemented in the future, which could result in any number of students being excluded from trips to the U.S., the school board would “cancel already-approved trips to the U.S. for the remainder of this school year.”
If that were to transpire, the school board would refund students, parents and staff on any costs not covered by insurance.
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“We do not make this decision lightly, but given the uncertainty of these new travel restrictions and when they may come into effect, if at all, we strongly believe that our students should not be placed into these situations of potentially being turned away at the border,” Malloy said.
“The TDSB remains committed to ensuring that fairness, equity, and inclusion are essential principles of our school system and are integrated into all our policies, programs, operations, and practices, including school trips.”
The school board said that if there were any students with appropriate documentation that were denied entry to the U.S. “for no legitimate reason” in the future, the entire school trip would then return to Toronto.
“It is my hope that our students, staff and parents will understand and support this difficult decision. We feel it strikes a balance between our equity and inclusion commitments as a school board, while not cancelling already-approved trips for which a financial loss would be incurred,” Malloy said.
“Rest assured, we will continue to monitor this situation very closely and should we receive additional information or clarification with regards to what students could expect at the U.S. border, we may revisit these decisions. However, based on all the information we currently have available to us, we feel this is the right action to take at this time.”
With files from Madeline Campbell
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