Question: I’m planning some field trips for my class later in the year. In the past, I’ve had some difficulty getting proper written permissions from parents in place. What advice can you provide?
Answer: Field trips are among the most memorable learning experiences for students and are a great teaching opportunity, but they are challenging to organize, particularly in these litigious times. I’ve asked my colleague Keith Hadden, co-ordinator of Teacher Employment Services, to share some advice based on the calls the Association has received from teachers on the subject.
Keith notes that field trip permission forms have been in place since “time immemorial” and are a frequent cause of headaches for teachers and school leaders alike. While it is wise to require that they be completed to ensure that parents are aware of the potential risks related to a field trip activity and as proof that they have granted informed consent for their child’s participation, in practice, the forms have little effect in limiting legal liability should something go wrong. An injury to a student can always create the potential for a lawsuit.
The good news is that section 251 of the Education Act provides protection for a teacher from liability in the good-faith performance of that teacher’s duties. Further, section 54 of the act requires boards to hold insurance for the purpose of indemnifying the board and its employees. So, you are generally not going to be at personal risk where the principal has parental consent demonstrated by a completed form allowing a student to participate. This assumes, of course, that you are being conscientious and attentive; gross negligence on the part of a teacher may not be indemnified, even where there is a consent form on file.
Teachers will sometimes be placed in an awkward position when a student (or parent) fails to provide the school with a properly completed release form. One key question to ask is why the form is not forthcoming. Is it a simple matter of the form being forgotten? Does the parent object to the nature of the activity or have safety concerns? Is the parent concerned that they might not be able to afford to pay the cost associated with the field trip?
In such cases, the principal may intervene, directing that the student still participate. Before doing so, the principal typically would have taken steps to obtain verbal consent from a parent after having addressed and resolved any legitimate parental concerns. In this circumstance, the principal is essentially taking care and control of the process and assuming responsibility (including possible legal liability, although the same protections as described above for teachers also apply to school leaders).
Questions of legal liability aside, if a teacher disagrees with a student being permitted to participate in a field trip or activity without first providing a signed consent form, they can certainly communicate that to their principal in an informal or formal manner and seek resolution. That said, it is probably unwise to defy a direction from the principal to take a student along. If a teacher were to do so, they could face disciplinary action by the employer.
A staff officer with the ATA’s Teacher Employment Services program area can help teachers understand the options around communicating their concerns to the principal and responding to any related consequences of that objection.
Best wishes for the year ahead, including some memorable (in a good way) field trips. ❚
Questions for consideration in this column are welcome. Please address them to Dennis Theobald at dennis.theobald@ata.ab.ca.
ATA Executive Secretary
