With students heading back to school next week, several school divisions say they will be avoiding field trips to the U.S. this year. Grade 10 student Bella Barnes doesn’t expect to go on any school trips south of the border. “I’d be like a little disappointed because obviously the excitement for the trips and stuff, but then also it’s their decision that they have to make, which is best for our safety and stuff,” she said. It comes amid an ongoing trade war and current political climate under U.S. President Donald Trump. Last October, the Louis Riel School Board adopted a motion suspending student travel to the U.S. “The Louis Riel School Division has not changed its position on travel to the United States,” a spokesperson told CTV News. Seven Oaks School Division superintendent Tony Kreml confirmed school trips to the U.S. continue to be on pause – a decision that was made last year as well. The Pembina Trails School Division confirmed trip requests to the U.S. would not currently be approved by the division. River East Transcona School Division told CTV News there are no student trips planned to the USA. “We have no plans to alter that course,” a spokesperson for the division said in an email. The Winnipeg School Division is taking a similar approach. “We are not supporting student or business travel to the U.S. for this upcoming school year,” a WSD spokesperson said in an email. CTV News reached out to the St. James-Assiniboia School Division for comment but has not yet heard back. Leah Klassen, president of the Manitoba School Boards Association, said last year there were a number of school boards who made a similar decision. She expects cross-border travel will definitely be a topic of discussion for school boards this year. “If and when the school trips come up, I think many of us, we’re looking at costs, we’re looking at safety while travelling,” she said. “There’ll be different factors, you know, do staff want to be attending these kinds of trips or taking the opportunity to explore Canada and have different experiences?” Most students head back to the classroom on Sept. 9.
