English teachers Kim Rober, Megan Breslin and Jennifer Choi wanted to coordinate a trip to Europe for sophomores over spring break, but Principal Stanley Teitel rejected the trip proposal.
“A few of the European Literature classes thought it might be a cool idea and a fun thing to do with the students,” Assistant Principal English Eric Grossman said.The teachers distributed an informal itinerary to their students in early October. The eight-day trip to London, England and Paris, France would have accommodated 42 to 44 students.
Rober, Breslin and Choi were to serve as chaperones. A tour guide and a bus driver would have been hired to lead the trip.
Rober compiled a list of sight-seeing destinations that relate to the sophomore English curriculum. Participating students were scheduled to visit Bloomsbury, a London neighborhood where Virginia Woolf and Charles Dickens once lived, and Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, among other sites.
According to the itinerary, the trip would have cost approximately $1,879 per person. Students who could not meet the cost would have entered a lottery for a chance to win two full scholarships.
“In each of my two sections, I had a fairly large number of students who were interested,” Rober said.According to Breslin, about 50 students in her section were interested in participating.
“My parents thought it was a good idea,” sophomore Peter Malychev said. “A lot of kids in my class were interested in going. I thought that it was really going to happen.”
Sophomore David Rice, however, was worried about the cost. “My parents may not have been willing to pay that much money,” he said. “It’s a lot for a week.”
According to Chancellor’s regulation A-670, the principal must approve all school trips. Both the principal and the regional superintendent must approve all international trips.
Grossman brought the trip proposal to Teitel the week of October 12. Grossman said Teitel expressed serious reservations about the trip right away, but he agreed to give the proposal some consideration.
Teitel rejected the proposal the following week citing concerns for student safety because of the threat to Americans traveling abroad.
“The government constantly warns us to keep a low profile,” Teitel said. “I don’t think a group of teenagers would be able to keep a low profile.”
“My understanding is that there is a tremendous insurance liability for the school,” Breslin said. “As much as I am personally disappointed, it is important to understand Mr. Teitel’s concerns regarding the security of students and faculty.”
However, in the past, Stuyvesant students have participated in international school trips. Assistant Principal World Language Arlene Ubieta organizes annual four-week trips to Spain for Stuyvesant juniors during summer vacation.
“We went around [Madrid] and we had to communicate in Spanish,” junior Gabrielle Beer said. “It was really the best way to learn the language and understand the culture.”
Teitel said the trip to Spain directly relates to the foreign language curriculum. “When you go to [Spain], you get an opportunity to speak the language, so I understand how that would be related to instruction. [The English trip] that was proposed to me was a sightseeing tour,” he said. “I understand that there might be some relationship to some of the books you were reading, but I didn’t see any direct connection.”
“I thought it would be a good experience for students to make the literature they were reading come alive,” Rober said. “I had no intention of allowing tenth graders to just roam wild all over Paris, France and London, England.”