Crescenta Valley student trip canceled over coronavirus precautions
A student trip to Japan, organized by Crescenta Valley High School parents and a teacher, was canceled over coronavirus concerns and it left parents doing a double-take at the travel company’s refund fine print.
Since 2008, Crescenta Valley High social studies teacher Pia Hugo has organized international trips she describes as taking students out of the world-history classroom and bringing them directly to the source. Past trips include France, England, Germany and Greece.
Thirty-one students, mostly juniors and seniors, each paid about $3,500 to go on the trip during spring break. As a group, they decided to cancel two weeks ago.
“We weren’t sure if we were going to push through with our travel plans. They started shutting down all the attractions in Japan. Even though the travel advisory level remained at two, it was pretty clear that going to Japan at this point would not have been a safe choice for the kids,” Hugo said.
She added that the travel company Education First planned on moving forward with the trip since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention categorized Japan as a level two travel advisory that warns older adults with chronic medical conditions to postpone travel.
“The health and safety of our travelers and staff has been our top priority for more than 55 years. We are closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation, are in constant communication with our offices around the world, and are actively following the guidance of all relevant health authorities,” the company wrote in a statement.
EF Education First is a privately held company founded in Sweden in 1965. They have 52,000 employees and more than 600 schools and offices around the globe. The company offers a variety of academic-oriented travel programs for students in high school and college levels.
In response to many groups concerned over the coronavirus, the company extended their Peace of Mind program, which “allows groups to change their itinerary, destination or departure date — or take a transferable voucher, which can be used for any tours in the EF family of programs or at EF’s International Language Campuses.”
Crescenta Valley High parents said they want at least a partial refund, especially for those who cannot use the voucher.
“Some of the kids are seniors, so they’re gone and they’re off to college at the end of the year. It’s just difficult to coordinate a trip that was supposed to be a part of the senior class to go at a later date when the kids are no longer in high school,” said Hutch Postik, parent to a Crescenta Valley High senior.
Postik pointed out that Japan Airlines, the company the students would have used to fly, is issuing refunds for flights.
“If there’s any cost that was incurred that [the company] doesn’t get back, we understand that. But hotels, airlines, food — these are all things that we should be reimbursed for,” said Lori Tsaparian, parent to a Crescenta Valley High junior.
She added, “We have a parent that lost her husband weeks ago and she scrimped for a year to save enough to send to her son on this trip. For her to not get her money back is horrible. To collect that much money is a hardship.”
Hugo said there is another student tour group at Crescenta Valley High that planned on traveling to Italy and received a partial refund through the Explorica travel company. Italy government officials recently placed the entire country under quarantine and the CDC categorizes it at a level three, which advises avoiding nonessential travel.
Parents wrote a letter asking the company for a refund. Hugo is acting as a mediator between the parents and the travel company and was told by an Education First spokesperson Monday that the company is discussing the parents’ request.
As a last resort, parents are considering filing a class-action lawsuit. Postik said he’s started consulting with an attorney.
