FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) — Thousands of Fresno Unified students are starting the 2026-27 school year without one familiar part of their school calendar: field trips.

The district cut approximately $2.2 million in funding for field trips for students in kindergarten through sixth grade as part of broader budget reductions.

The Fresno Teachers Association is now pushing back, arguing that field trips are an important part of students’ education and should not be eliminated because of budget constraints.

FTA President Manuel Bonilla said the cost of restoring the funding is small compared with the district’s overall budget.

“District leaders should understand that field trips, particularly for this cost of $2 million and a $2 billion budget, is a fundamental part of our educational journey,” Bonilla said.

For parents, the cuts could mean students missing experiences they have looked forward to throughout the school year.

Cristina Gutierrez, a mother of three children at Wilson Elementary School, said her kids used to mark field trip days on their calendars.

“For some kids, education’s boring. This was another way to motivate them,” Gutierrez said.

Trips potentially affected include visits to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, local museums and a camping trip that many sixth graders anticipate.

Gutierrez said her daughter had been especially excited about the opportunity to spend time with her classmates and experience something outside the classroom.

“She was actually looking forward to being in sixth grade and going out with her classmates, and having this experience where mom and dad’s not there, and they are enjoying and learning something different,” Gutierrez said.

For our accountability question, we asked whether Fresno Unified has reserves it could use to restore funding for field trips.

The district responded that it does not have reserves available for that purpose. FUSD said it made approximately $30 million in budget reductions last year, including cuts to enrichment activities such as field trips.

However, Bonilla pointed to district reserve funds and questioned why a relatively small amount was not set aside for field trips.

“The fact that they just didn’t simply budget it, knowing that they have $122 million much to spend on this and it’s only $2 million, that’s frustrating. It’s an oversight of district leadership,” Bonilla said.

Fresno Unified says individual school sites can use money from their own budgets to pay for field trips or explore fundraising opportunities.

Bonilla, however, said that is not a realistic solution for this school year because school budgets were already finalized during the spring budgeting process.

“I think that it’s a very disingenuous statement to talk about the schools funding these on their own budget,” Bonilla said. “Those budgets are governed by a legal process, and that legal process was finished in the budgeting process in spring.”

Gutierrez said field trips give students opportunities to apply what they learn in the classroom to real-world experiences.

She recalled how her children have returned from trips with new ideas and experiences they could incorporate into their schoolwork.

“I know when kids, after going to the zoo, they come back and write an article, and what did you see, what animal did you like. So they come and bring their knowledge,” she said.

The $2.2 million funding cut affects the 2026-27 school year.

Bonilla said he hopes the loss of funding does not continue into future school years.

For now, the Fresno Teachers Association is asking parents, teachers and community members to sign a petition calling for the district to meet with the union and find a way to restore funding for field trips.