IDEA seeks missing policy on school excursions

The IDEA can’t find the policy on school outings that it hopes to update before summer.

Katherine Trumper said she and other members need to localize the Iqaluit’s excursion policy used by Qikiqtani Schools Operations, the body overseeing all schools in the Baffin region.

At the IDEA’s May 3 meeting, Trumper compared the QSO policy with the Toronto District School Board’s policy, suggesting that the local approach to approving excursions lacked educational guidelines and planning requirements.

“It’s got to have been written by risk-managers because it’s just written to avoid a lawsuit,” Trumper said, adding that the IDEA needed to add its own criteria for school outings.

Member Kathy Smith said a policy existed for Iqaluit schools, but couldn’t be found.