For Bromfield ninth-graders, the spring trip to Washington, D.C., is a tradition, a rite of passage, a bonding experience, and an inspiration for further study in American government. But this year it is instead a victim of the new coronavirus.
At Monday’s meeting, the School Committee voted unanimously to postpone—not cancel—the trip, which was scheduled to take place next week, from March 18 to March 21. School Superintendent Linda Dwight told the committee that EF Educational Tours, the trip organizer, would allow Bromfield to reschedule the trip sometime before Oct. 1 at no extra cost to families. Beyond that date, families could forfeit their deposits. Committee members directed Dwight to inform the tour company in writing of their decision, a condition the company had set for allowing the postponement.
Committee member Shannon Molloy noted that, while the disease itself might still be around next fall, “What might be past by then is the danger of the health care system being overwhelmed.”
Bromfield Principal Scott Hoffman, who almost always accompanies the ninth-graders to Washington, acknowledged that putting off the trip would be a major disappointment for everyone. And he said he knows that the students themselves would be at comparatively low risk from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. But he said he was concerned both that they could bring the disease home to elderly relatives and that some of the accompanying adults might become ill. Hoffman said he had not asked students for input on the decision, explaining, “We’re the adults. We have to make that call.”
In a reflection of how quickly the situation is changing, committee member Suzie Allen heard her phone buzz during the discussion and then informed the other members that the hospital where she works had just reported its first patient to test positive for the virus.
Two people at the meeting—committee member SusanMary Redinger and Devens representative Maureen Babcock—have children in ninth grade, and both women had asked other ninth-grade parents about their views on whether to go ahead with the trip as scheduled, but they found no consensus.
“Everyone at this table is going places, meeting people,” Babcock pointed out. “Is the D.C. trip any more of a risk?”
“As a parent, I would wholeheartedly send my kid,” Redinger agreed. “But as a School Committee member, I don’t see how we can approve it.”
As for other, smaller-scale trips such as the upcoming Model UN gathering and the Youth and Government meeting in Boston, Dwight said she will check to see whether students travel to and from those meetings separately, rather than as a group. The committee agreed that Dwight should decide whether the risk of attending those meetings was unacceptably high.
