Maze students settle for pizza, bookstores after college field trip falls through

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More than 40 Marguerite Maze Middle School students walked from campus along with teachers and parents to two downtown Hollister bookstores, eventually settling at Mountain Mike’s Pizza for lunch and some arcade games on April 8. 

That might appear to be a treat, but it was more of a consolation prize after the district “cancelled” the group’s field trip to UC Merced, according to the teachers and parents chaperoning the students. 

School district officials said permission documents for the trip were not finalized on time while acknowledging staff failed to do so in a timely manner.

Seventh grade teacher Angela Hagins said the required permission documentation for the field trip had been submitted to the district in January. School staff had lined up 15 parent chaperones and the district had secured substitute teachers for the day.

But Hagins said it wasn’t until 15 minutes before the school group was scheduled to leave that the district called to inform them there wasn’t any transportation available.

Hagins said the district uses an online platform to process field trip requests and that school staff attempted to get updates on their request from the transportation department but were unsuccessful, despite reaching out multiple times, including during the week of the field trip.

“Had we gotten a response that it was not approved, we would’ve been able to do something about it, but at that point we didn’t know it got stuck in the pipeline,” Hagins said. “There was no reason for us to assume it got denied.”

Hollister School District Superintendent Erika Sanchez said there is a multi-step process that requires details such as clearing students with medical needs, coordinating transportation, lunch and chaperone clearances.

“In this particular case the form spent weeks in the inbox of staff and unfortunately the form did not progress to the step required to secure transportation with the district office,” Sanchez said. 

She added the transportation form “never reached the finalization [stage] until after the close of business” on April 7, the day before the field trip was to take place, and she acknowledged the request was submitted “well in advance” of the required four weeks before the trip date.

Sanchez said district staff attempted to secure buses in the hours leading up to the field trip but was unsuccessful.

Sixth grade teacher Candace Ledesma said the trip was particularly special for this group of students because they are part of the Advancement Via Individual Determination program and the majority are seeking to be first generation college students. 

“These are students who choose to take a harder elective in order to get better skills and pave the road to college,” Hagins said. “They’ve already decided this is what they want to do. They’re first generation, lower economic status. So they don’t get the opportunity to travel, to go on field trips and see college campuses.”

Eighth grade student Mayra Lopez Villegas, 13, said she was disappointed because she was looking to tour the college campus and added that she felt the district didn’t care about some students.

“It just says sometimes other schools or students from Maze or Rancho don’t really matter,” she said. 

Parent Celeste Rodriguez, who had an eighth grade student taking part in the field trip, said she was frustrated because it was the eighth graders’ last field trip of the school year. 

‘I think it’s something that is not right,” she said.

Sanchez said the district understands how important field trips are for students.

“I also can appreciate how disappointing this may have been for all students, families and staff,” she said.

Ledesma said that, rather than give up, teachers involved in the field trip began making calls trying to find a way to get the kids to UC Merced. 

She said Hollister High School informed them they had nothing available. The group also called a charter bus company, which she said would charge about $1,200. But, Ledesma added, the charter’s call to the district to obtain approval went unanswered anyway.

Ledesma said the teachers also considered taking the students to the new Gavilan Hollister Campus instead, but the college students were out on spring break. 

Other activities they considered included taking the kids to the movies, but they were informed there wasn’t enough staff at the theater to accommodate the students. 

“There is nothing for the kids to do,” Ledesma said. “ There are no hands-on activities for them.”

Ledesma said this was the second time the district cancelled a field trip at the last minute this school year. The first was in October when the district “forgot” to arrange for substitute teachers, she said. 

The district’s focus “isn’t on the students, it seems,” she told BenitoLink, adding that about 70 students were part of the excursion. 

But Sanchez said in the October case, substitutes were not secured because the field trip date fell on a “blackout date” when no field trips were allowed. 

“Staff knew of this issue by Oct. 24,” she said, noting that the field trip was planned for Oct. 29, five days later.

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