Kamenetz Condemns Carroll County Schools For Field Trip Policy

TOWSON, MD — Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz is condemning another jurisdiction for its school system's decision to suspend travel to Baltimore City. Following a decision by Carroll County Public Schools to halt field trips to Baltimore, Kamenetz said that "neighbors need to support each other," in a statement this week.

"Carroll County's decision to cancel all field trips to Baltimore City is a disservice to its students, Baltimore's cultural and arts institutions, and to the city of Baltimore," Kamenetz said.

Carroll County's superintendent has reportedly suspended its field trips to Baltimore until at least January over concerns about violence in the city, where there have been more than 300 homicides this year and a police officer was fatally shot on Nov. 15 in a murder that is unsolved.

• Carroll Schools Suspend Field Trips To Baltimore City

The Francis Scott Key High School band has withdrawn from the Mayor's Annual Christmas Parade in north Baltimore this weekend, according to WJZ, which reported the mayor's spokesperson issued a statement that she was "disappointed" in the Carroll County school's decision.

The Westminster Elementary third-grade field trip on Dec. 1 to the Maryland Science Center has been canceled, according to the school's website.

"This is a very challenging time for our region, and neighbors need to support each other," Kamenetz said.

"I am proud that Baltimore County public school students visited these institutions 172,000 times last year and continue to benefit each year from the educational enrichment offered by Baltimore’s venerable cultural and arts institutions. These visits continue to take place without incident," Kamenetz said. "As Plato observed, 'We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.'"

In 2015 after unrest escalated into rioting in Baltimore following the funeral of Freddie Gray, The Baltimore Sun reported that Baltimore County Public Schools issued guidance to cancel field trips that week.

Pictured, County Executive Kevin Kamenetz touts the Port of Baltimore and its importance to Sparrows Point. Photo courtesy of Baltimore County government/Facebook from December 2016.