Pleasant Valley secondary students will once again be making the trek overseas.
Open to any Grade 9-12 student throughout the district, a trip to Switzerland, Italy, France and Spain is slated for March 19 to 31, 2018.
This is at least the 34th year of PVSS taking students to Europe, according to trip organizer Paul Britton. Through EF Education Tours, which is known for its educational and safe tours, the trip will see students visit many historical sites, and take in the local culture as they tour Zurich, Lucerne, Cirque Terre, Monaco, Nice, Provence, and Barcelona.
School district trustee Mike McKay said it was comforting to know the trip was through EF Tours. “They are a highly professional company.”
The district and organizers will continue to monitor, and if world circumstances change parents and students need to know it could be cancelled.
Britton noted that EF Tours was also very diligent about this and would change the itinerary if there was a safety concern.
“There is substantial learning on these types of tours,” said McKay, as these types of trips are not junkets or a week off. “They change kids’ world views.”
Trustee Variance
The process and some of the options around trustee variance (the number of and electoral areas for trustees) is getting underway next month.
“We will engage with the communities and municipalities and gather some feedback on the draft options and go from there,” said McKay, adding that the former board had done substantial work on this so it will just need to be updated and can be moved on quite quickly. “We hope to have this in place well before the next election.”