41 students, 5 chaperones are currently in England and showing no symptoms of COVID-19, says LDDS principal

By Colin Burrowes

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

LISTOWEL – A group of students from Listowel District Secondary School, who left on a trip to Europe on March 12, are attempting to make their way home, however it may be a difficult task to accomplish.

The Listowel Banner has learned that the group of 46 students and chaperones from the school are currently in England awaiting a flight back to Canada.

Avon Maitland District School Board superintendent of education, Jodie Baker, told the Banner on Sunday that they were going to cancel the trip in February but an alternate itinerary which would avoid London, England was decided on instead.

The school board was monitoring the situation daily over the past month and was in talks with the Huron Perth Health Unit, their travel partners, school staff and the administration to find an alternate itinerary.

Information came back from the travel company with an alternative plan which would avoid London, England and other big centres.

Baker said they were carefully monitoring the numbers of COVID-19 cases in countries the students would be visiting.

“We were in frequent contact with the travel company and there were no travel advisories except for Italy, so right away we cancelled Italy,” she said.

The travel company came back with the revised itinerary and met with parents.

“We hadn’t seen a significant increase quite yet, so they went,” said Baker.

Then the announcement came out encouraging Canadians to either return home or not travel outside the country and the travel company began work to bring the group home.

The group has hand sanitizer, access to hygiene products, they are avoiding large crowds and taking extra health precautions, and Baker said they have not experienced any difficulties there.

“We’re in touch with them night and day,” she said.

The size of the group, 41 students and five chaperones, makes it difficult for them to get divided up for travel. Students cannot be sent on a plane without a chaperone.

“Safety has been a priority,” said Baker. “We have watched this and monitored it. Our trustees and senior staff are in the loop.”

The students will have to be quarantined for two weeks when they arrive home.

“We’re learning a lot about cancellation insurance,” she said. “Nobody has been through this before and many, many school boards have field trips … in situations like this, in order to get a refund on your cancellation insurance you have to read the fine print.”

Baker said that if you look at the fine print in cancellation insurance, they specify that travelers must be going to specific regions within a country which are being impacted by travel advisories.

“Unless you purchase that upgraded … insurance that allows you to cancel anytime for anything and get 75 per cent of your money back, you were not insured in areas where there is no travel advisory,” said Baker.

She said the focus now is getting them back home.

“We know that our country wants them to come back and we want them to get home safely … I’m in touch with them multiple times throughout the day,” said Baker. “The students have been excellent.”

The Banner first reported on Sunday afternoon that the students, along with their chaperones, had departed from Toronto on Thursday and were trying to find their way home.

In a text to the Banner from LDSS principal Kim Crawford, one of the chaperones on the trip, she said some of the students on the trip saw the negative reactions on Facebook about the trip and they assure her they are glad they travelled.

“They said they are having so much fun and they know there is much that is out of our hands. They were genuinely appreciative. These kids are such a great group. They are washing hands and being very careful,” the text from Crawford read.

There have been no signs of illness in the students or chaperones on the trip.

– With files from Mike Wilson



Story updated at 6:25 p.m. on March 15, 2020 to include information from LDSS principal Kim Crawford and AMDSB superintendent of education Jodie Baker.

