Sooke school district holds off on U.S. travel ban

The Sooke school district will examine school trips to the U.S. on a case-by-case basis before implementing a policy, choosing to wait until President Donald Trump releases a new executive order on travel restrictions

Superintendent Jim Cambridge said four trips are planned to the U.S., including one to Seattle over the March 14-24 spring break. He will look at each trip and consider whether any students are at risk of being detained at the border.

“Our board was pretty in tune with the fact that they want to protect our students and ensure no students are discriminated against,” he said.

Once the executive order is issued, the board will decide on a policy for future trips, Cambridge said.

“Without knowing what the rules are, it makes it very difficult to make a decision,” he said.

The executive order issued on Jan. 27 temporarily barred people from seven Muslim-majority countries. Even though the order has been suspended by a court order, some people have been denied entry to the U.S.

Last month, a British Muslim school teacher was barred from travelling to New York with students on a field trip.

School board chair Bob Phillips said the board doesn’t want to overreact and walks a fine line between “precautionary protection and parents and kids wanting some degree of autonomy.”

He recognizes sports trips to the U.S. could be important to high school students seeking scholarships to American universities.

On Monday, the Greater Victoria school district decided not to plan any more trips to the U.S. until there’s more certainty around that country’s travel restrictions.

The Saanich school district has no plans to cancel trips to the U.S.