Stonington — Superintendent of Schools Van Riley has ended the annual eighth-grade trip to Washington, citing a list of reasons such as the growing number of students who can’t afford the more than $800 trip, problems finding chaperones, the cost of substitute teachers and ongoing problems with students staying together in hotel rooms.

“It is a great experience but it just has too many downsides,” Riley said Thursday. “My hope is that if parents want to continue the trip on their own we’ll help them set it up outside of school time such as during spring break or during the summers.”

He stressed that the fundraising being done by seventh-graders for their trip will now be put toward day trips to Boston, New York or some other location.

Riley’s decision, which he outlined to the school board Thursday evening, ends a 25-year tradition for Mystic and Pawcatuck middle schools. This year’s eighth graders took the four-day trip last month.

After learning of the cancellation, some parents and past students took to Facebook today to speak fondly of the trip and its benefits.

When the trip first began, it was unique to the region as information about Washington was integrated into the seventh- and eighth-grade curricula so students would better understand the sites they would visit. Over the years, they have visited the monuments and the White House, received tours of the Capitol by congressmen, laid wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, attended plays at The Kennedy Center and taken boat tours on the Potomac River. There were trips to the Smithsonian Institution, Ford’s Theater, the Supreme Court, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the National Zoo and other attractions.

There have also been reports of bullying and student misbehavior in the hotel rooms. One year, a student was robbed at a stop in Baltimore on the way home.

In an Oct. 31 memo to the school board, Riley outlined his many reasons for ending the trip.

He said he based his decision on concerns expressed by staff and parents and recommendations and discussions with administrators.

Riley said each year more and more students do not go on the trip with reasons ranging from “student maturity level to financial ability.” Because those students must attend school while their peers are on the trip, the school system spends $8,000 to $9,000 to hire substitutes to fill in for teachers in various grades on the trip. 

“Not only is there a significant cost for substitutes, having that number of teachers out in several grade levels disrupts instruction for the entire school for that week,” he wrote.

This year 50 students did not go on the trip.

“This is not fair to those students who must stay behind,” Riley wrote.

He said there is peer pressure on families to have their child go on the trip, even though it may cause a financial hardship.

Riley said the cost of the trip is now in excess of $800 as students have to not only pay for bus transportation, lodging, food and admission to attractions — but also buy special clothing and have spending money.

“For $800, an entire family could go to D.C. for a vacation for a few days. The cost increases about $50 each year and is now to the point where it is truly a burden for many families,” he said.

Riley said he is also concerned about safety in the nation’s capital. Another of his concerns is proper supervision of students in the hotel rooms.

“As you may know, the trip requires four students to sleep in a room all night without adult supervision. On almost every trip there are behavior issues due to this lack of supervision. To provide 100 percent adult supervision, we would have to require two parent volunteers to stay with two students in every room. We simply do not have that number of volunteers. Supervision and potential liability are serious issues for this trip.”

“In addition the impacts on regular work schedules increase each year. The time it takes during the day to put the trips together pulls teachers, administrators, nurses and others away from important daily responsibilities,” he wrote.

Riley said that the situation for the 50 students left behind results in what has been termed “treading water” for that week of instruction.

“Certainly those students who participate in the trip have a wonderful educational experience but not so for the rest of the eighth graders and the whole school that must deal with many substitutes that week,” he wrote.

He said there is also trouble finding appropriate nursing and medical care for students on the trip, and staff spends many hours accommodating individual parent requests such as those that involved student room assignments.

There’s also trouble finding chaperones. Two years ago one of the middle schools came close to canceling the trip because of that problem, he said.

Riley concluded his memo by saying the reasons he listed “outweigh the positives for continuing the trip.”

“Principals are excited about moving on to other possibilities that do not require significant cost, ensure proper supervision, and that would allow all students to participate,” he wrote. “Some suggestions include day trips to New York to Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, a Broadway play, or Ellis Island. Other possibilities include day trips to Boston, the JFK Library or other interesting and educational attractions.”

j.wojtas@theday.com

Twitter: @joewojtas