PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
From left, Alejandra Baralt, who will lead a group of exchange students in Spain, helps Jessica Gahm-Diaz find the location just south of Madrid where they will visit.
By GAYLA CAWLEY
SWAMPSCOTT — In light of recent terrorist attacks in Brussels, officials are taking a second look at next year’s planned high school field trip to Spain.
The trip, scheduled for April vacation next year, was approved at a recent School Committee meeting. But the panel insisted that Prometour, a travel agency that provides educational tours, outline its safety plan for Spain. The travel company will appear before the committee on April 27.
“All of the districts are struggling with this decision, with whether to support international travel for our students,” said Superintendent Pamela Angelakis. “A lot of districts have stopped travel.”
Amy O’Connor, School Committee vice-chair, also wanted assurance from the travel firm that students could cancel the $2,500 trip and still get their money back if there’s another attack before next April. O’Connor said that will be part of the discussion with Prometour at the meeting.
“From my perspective, my concern would be in the practicalities of the money, and if we can get the money back should there be some sort of international incident,” she said.
Terrorist attacks are unpredictable and often impossible to prepare for, even when all safety precautions are taken.
“I do think, God forbid, if something happened like what happened in Brussels, there’s almost nothing that someone can do about it except for stay home,” she said. “And I would never advocate for staying home.”
Ted Delano, a School Committee member and a detective with the Swampscott Police Department, said he has concerns about possible terrorist attacks and health issues in Europe.
“Every time there’s a field trip, I bite my nails until the time those kids get home and they’re all safe,” he said.
Before 10 to 20 students and two chaperones make the trip to Spain, Delano said there must be a plan. He would like to see a “shelter in place” policy, should something go wrong on the trip.
Delano said he has been working with trip organizer Jessica Gahm-Diaz, chairperson of the high school world language department, and Angelakis on making sure the district has contacts with the State Department and U.S. Embassy in preparation for the trip.
Although he is in favor of hands-on learning for students through international travel, his support of the trip could change if another attack were to occur.
“To me, if there was an event that transpired, then I could not support it,” Delano said.
Gahm-Diaz said the high school goes on trips abroad every year. Within the month, she said a group of students will be traveling to Nicaragua.
The trip to Spain is different, however, as it is an exchange trip. In September, students from Spain will be visiting Swampscott before the town’s students make the trip to Aranjuez, outside of Madrid, next spring.
Gahm-Diaz said the main reason for the concern is the recent attacks in Brussels. She said the main mission is to keep students safe while introducing them to the outside world, adding that this is the first time the committee has brought up safety as an issue.
With the trip, she said students will have a chance to see how kids their own age live. Students will get to see things being studied in class and will get to use their Spanish language skills in real-life situations.
“The value of the trip is priceless,” Gahm-Diaz said. “It’s really an important thing for kids to do. I would hate to see the value of the trip be overshadowed by people’s fears of terrorism.”
Alejandra Baralt, a world language teacher who is a chaperone for the trip, said the students would be staying with a host family part of the time and going to school with the students in Aranjuez.
The group will also travel to Seville, where there will be a festival with music and food. Another stop would be the Alhambra, a castle that was built for the moors. The group would also travel to Malaga, Pablo Picasso’s birthplace.
“Hopefully it will happen,” Baralt said.
Frank Kowalski, the High School’s interim principal, said the school is monitoring what’s going on in Brussels, but has every intention of going ahead with the field trip. In his nine years with the school, he said Brussels is the closest case he’s heard of that could affect student travel.
“Right now, we’re just wait and see,” he said.
Gayla Cawley can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley