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Board breaks camp
By Stefanie Ackerman
Outdoor education in the form of a week long camp is no longer a part of the curriculum for fifth graders in the Lewisville school district.
The board voted Wednesday night to discontinue fifth grade overnight camp and to look at other options for outdoor education utilizing the LISD Outdoor Learning Academy or other opportunities.
Superintendent Jerry Roy asked members of the fifth grade camp task force to work with the board to develop the curriculum of the two-day camp at LISDOLA.
The board of trustees eliminated fifth grade out of state and overnight camp for the 2006-2007 school year and beyond in January, but reneged the decision at the Feb. 13 board meeting amidst protests from parents and teachers in the district. Trustees had three major concerns about the outdoor camping experience; TAKS requirements, classroom time, safety issues, volunteer-sponsor procurement and financial considerations.
A task force was formed to tackle specific items relating to the camp and the overall camp experience. The task force, comprised of teachers, principals, administrators and parents, was charged with looking at facilities, curriculum and instruction, health and safety, and finance and cost of camps not out of state to be utilized in the years to come.
Considerable discussion, during the past few months, was dedicated to the need of the camp for students who might not ever have a camp experience without it. The task force stated the week long camp experience was imperative to the growth of the students. The board countered the schools' which were stated as benefiting from the camp the most, were the schools which had the most trouble ascertaining adult volunteers for the camp.
Letters from across the Dallas/Fort Worth area poured into school principals, said Ferguson; all volunteering to safeguard students at the camp. Ferguson expressed his disgust that guardians and parents would feel comfortable leaving their children with adults no one knows. He said that performing background checks is not enough.
"It boils down to the very campuses we think need this the most, because those are kids who couldn't camp otherwise, are the ones that I don't see how we can assure a safe plan for them," said Ferguson at the meeting, which lasted approximately ten minutes.
The board had said they didn't feel the task force addressed the safety issues in-depth enough. They felt the safety issue, which was of utmost concern, was hardly addressed at all. The board was disturbed about reports that parents were acting inappropriately during the camp, by drinking or going to bars.
"The best thing we can do for those kids, in my mind, is make sure they get a good education so when they grow up they will have more opportunity, and that's our focus," said Ferguson, who was the only board member to speak about the camp. "Some of these other things are nice to have, but to me, overnight camp is just not something we can do right now, unless something drastically changes in my understanding of the facts."
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