FRESNO, Calif. — A longtime tradition for Fresno Unified students could look very different this school year after the district eliminated $2.2 million in centrally funded enrichment trips for students in transitional kindergarten through sixth grade.
The cuts include funding that has traditionally helped pay for field trips and sixth-grade camp.
Fresno Unified says schools can still use their own site budgets to pay for trips, and that some schools are exploring fundraising options.
For students like sixth grader Jonah Morales, the news came as a disappointment.
Fresno Unified cuts funding for field trips, including sixth-grade camp. (Photo: FOX26)
“We were all shocked ’cause we were looking forward for the field trip,” Morales said.
Morales said he and his classmates learned about the changes from their teacher last week.
He also said sixth-grade camp, an experience he had been looking forward to, is among the activities students were told could be cut.
The Fresno Teachers Association says it began hearing concerns from parents and educators about field trips being canceled across the district.
Fresno Unified cuts funding for field trips, including sixth-grade camp. (Photo: FOX26)
FTA President Manuel Bonilla said teachers were put in a difficult position when they had to deliver the news to families.
“It was actually quite frustrating from an employee perspective,” Bonilla said. “Many of our teachers were kind of put on the spot to have to deliver this news. It didn’t seem like there was a lot of mass communication from the central office about this.”
The teacher’s association then asked parents on Facebook what they had heard.
The post generated hundreds of comments, with many parents raising concerns about the loss of funding for field trips, particularly sixth-grade camp.
Bonilla said sixth-grade camp has become an important milestone for students.
“When you talk about sixth grade camp, it’s kind of a rite of passage that has taken place for a number of years,” he said.
Morales’ aunt told FOX26 she experienced similar field trips as a student and believes it is unfair that today’s students may not have the same opportunity or that they have to fundraise for it.
Michelle Hernandez, a parent who responded to the FTA’s Facebook post, said families are now wondering how they can pay for the trips.
“The chatter is just pretty much, you know, are we able to fundraise? What can we fundraise?” Hernandez told FOX26. “Parents are just concerned where, you know, where did the funding for this go and why all of a sudden did we lose this funding?”
Fresno Unified confirmed to FOX26 that centrally funded TK through sixth-grade enrichment trips have been eliminated as part of the district’s budget cuts.
Fresno Unified cuts funding for field trips, including sixth-grade camp. (Photo: FOX26)
However, it said schools can still use their own site budgets to pay for field trips.
The district also says schools can explore fundraising options.
As part of FOX26’s accountability question, we asked Fresno Unified, “How will the district ensure these funding cuts don’t limit opportunities for students whose families cannot afford the additional costs?”
It responded, “So, if the school is funding a field trip, we have a policy that makes sure all students are able to participate regardless of their financial situation.”
We followed up with a question asking, “What if the school is not able to provide funding for a field trip?”
It responded, “Schools will have to fund the trips themselves. Some are exploring fundraising options, but there won’t be any centralized funding anymore because of budget cuts.”
Bonilla said he believes the district could have made cuts elsewhere without taking opportunities away from students.
He pointed to $1.5 million spent last year on travel for central office administrators and about $700,000 spent on consultants conducting program reviews that he says have been done multiple times in recent years.
Bonilla also said shifting the responsibility to individual schools could create differences in opportunities from one school to another, particularly because some schools may have more fundraising resources than others.
The Fresno Teachers Association is asking families and educators to get involved through “Fresno School Watch.”
The group plans to hold a virtual community meeting next week to hear feedback from families and educators and discuss possible ways to keep field trips available for students.
For students like Morales, the hope is that the district will reconsider.
“I hope they’ll bring it back for us,” he said.