Staff and Grade 8 students at an inner-city Toronto school were looking forward to the three-day graduation trip to an idyllic nature camp in Eastern Ontario — until they were informed they couldn’t canoe, kayak or try archery.

And swimming, rope activities and campfires? Only if “sufficient proof of safety” was provided ahead of time, along with “a script of safety routines and insurance in case of injuries.” With the requested documentation and swim tests near-impossible to complete before kids were to leave June 10, the trip fell to pieces, staff say.

Instead, students will spend one day in Niagara Falls.

“For the teachers and students who had gone there previously, everybody loved it — they do a bang-up job and make the children really have something to look forward to,” said Amesbury Middle School teacher Lenny Chiro, who helped plan this year’s trip. “It’s a great memory.”

In many of the past seven years, the graduating class has gone to Camp Walden, an exclusive sleepaway camp near Bancroft, Ont., taken part in sports and water activities, and sat around a bonfire. It’s an experience many wouldn’t get otherwise.

But this year, superintendent Glenford Duffus asked the school to provide proof that safety requirements would be met. Even though planning for the trip began last fall, the request came this month, and teachers felt with so many restrictions, asking students to spend $150 to go was unfair.

Ryan Bird, spokesperson for the Toronto District School Board, said the superintendent was following provincial safety guidelines that have been in place for years, but could not speak to what had happened in the past.

He called it an issue of miscommunication, and also cited low interest in the trip — only about 40 per cent of students had signed up.

However, a letter from principal Steve Bannerman to parents — obtained by the Star — only mentions safety restrictions. That letter was given to teachers and handed out to students May 23 before the principal recalled it, staff say.

Students were then told to verbally inform their parents the trip was off, and parents have still not been formally notified.

“They gutted all of the activities,” added Chiro. “I told the principal, ‘What are we going to be doing? Swatting mosquitoes?’ And why all of a sudden … It’s caused a lot of concern among the teachers.” Students also said they didn’t want to go with all the restrictions.

Bird said the letter contained incorrect information, including a reference to “devastating injuries due to water or fire” in the past year, as to why some activities would be banned. No such injuries have happened in recent memory, he said.

Water activities are allowed as long as guidelines and supervision requirements are followed, he said, adding the issue here is one of paperwork.

The loss of this traditional grad trip has been particularly difficult for this group, because their Grade 7 overnight trip was cancelled last year because of teacher labour turmoil.

This year’s Grade 7s are heading to a board-operated facility for an overnight trip in June, where archery is allowed.

Normally, campers are charged $250 for a three-day retreat at Walden, but Amesbury students pay $150.

That amount may still be a struggle for some families to afford; Bird said some subsidies are available but not enough to help everyone.

“Amesbury was one of the first schools to come to Walden,” said camp co-owner Sol Birenbaum. “That was seven years ago, and we were so proud they trusted us to send their kids to us.”

Now, about 31 schools visit each year, and he’s not aware of any disapproving the camp, though some do opt out of activities or send questions ahead of time requesting safety information.

He said the camp’s safety requirements exceed those of the school board.

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“Somewhere, there was a breakdown,” he said, adding he’s reached out to the school “because this particular program is so special to us, we wanted to let (the superintendent) know that we are willing to do whatever it takes to reinstate this case.”

But he did not wish to lay blame. “I think this is a paperwork problem, not a person problem.”

“If me and the teacher and the superintendent were sitting around a table, we could hash this out in four minutes, but that’s just not the way it works.”

Toronto student Trustee Jesse Waugh compared visiting Niagara Falls to a consolation prize, and said the Grade 8 grad trip is a rite of passage for students to bond before heading off to high school.