School trips to Vimy Ridge will go ahead with new safety measures

Local students will be able to travel to Vimy Ridge this year, now that the Waterloo Regional District School Board has adopted improved safety measures.

Eight local public school groups are planning to visit France and Belgium this spring to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

The trips were planned in October2015, and75 to 80 local public school students are expected to take part.

But last month,all eight trips were cancelleddue to federal travel advisories for France and Belgium.

• Parents question Waterloo Region District School Board's decision to cancel student trips to France, Belgium

• Waterloo Region District School Board to review decision to cancel student trips to France, Belgium

The federal government recommends Canadians travelling to both countriesexercise a "high degree of caution" due to heightened threat of terrorism.

Thoseadvisorieswere updated Dec. 1, notingincreasingterrorist attacks in France since 2015and theMarch2016attacksat the airport and the Maalbeekmetro station in Brussels.

The decision to cancel the trips was met with criticism from parents andcommunity memberseven former MP and former Ontario premier Bob Rae tweeted his disapproval ofthe decision.

The school board had said it would review the plan, and decided this week to allow the trips to go ahead.

"We heard from parents, we heard from people in the community and we heard from teachers that they wanted us to reconsider our decision to cancel those trips," said Nick Manning, chief communications officer for school board.

Board approvestripswith added safety measures

The board consulted with Veterans Affairs Canada, Global Affairs Canada, The Vimy Foundation and its insurers to determine measures it could take to improve student safety.

Those measures will include more detailed seating plans for students and contingency itineraries, as well as requiring students and teachers to take part in workshops.

For school staff,thoseworkshops will include risk assessment and emergency preparedness courses.

Students will learntravel safety and what to do in case of an emergency overseas.

The board is also increasing its ratio of staff to students, providing several international cell phone plans for supervisors, and increasing the number of supervisors with CPR and First Aid qualifications.

"We think we've got a series of measures in place that providesome additional security and allow us some confidence that the trips can go ahead in safety," said Manning.

The board'sinsurance costs aren't expected to increase.

"Insurance isn't at the heart of our decision making here," said Manning. "What we do is take a very low risk tolerance, and that, in the end, causes us to get a more favourable rate for our insurance. But it also tells people that we're a board that takes safety seriously."

The board is considering implementing additional safety measures for all future trips, but it's not planing to change its policy on visiting higher risk countries overall.

"We're making an exception in the case of Belgium and France, particularly due to the historical significance of the trips this year," said Manning. "Moving forward, we won't be in the business of approving trips to places that have a high degree of caution ratings."