Fury as major California school district eliminates field trips for kids due to staff overspending

Parents and teachers are furious after a major California school district pulled funding for field trips for tens of thousands of elementary school children.Fresno Unified School District has eliminated $2.2 million in centrally funded enrichment trips for students in transitional kindergarten through sixth grade for the upcoming school year, the district confirmed to YourCentralValley.The decision affects roughly 40,000 students across the district and has sparked an angry backlash from families and educators who say field trips can provide children with experiences they may never otherwise have.Among the trips now in jeopardy are visits to a local pumpkin patch, the Big Fresno Fair and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.Perhaps most upsetting to families is the loss of sixth-grade camp, which teachers describe as a cherished rite of passage before students head off to middle school.“The sixth-grade camp is one of the best memories these kids have,” one parent wrote on social media after saying they were told the camp had been canceled.The controversy erupted after the Fresno Teachers Association posted on Facebook Sunday asking educators and parents whether they had heard that the district was scrapping field trips.“No Field Trips?” the association wrote, asking families to share what their schools had been told and whether they supported the reported districtwide decision.California's top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.

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Never miss a story The post was quickly flooded with frustrated responses.“The community deserves better!” one person wrote.“A bulk of the children cannot afford to go to places, even locally, because of cost.

So please speak out FOR FIELD TRIPS for our children!”Another commenter said they had been told field trips were canceled because of budget cuts a...