This is OP. This thread has been very enlightening for me to say the least! I didn't realize transportation fees were so high! My child came home saying that they took a "fancy bus" and got to see movies in the bus At the MD Science Center itself, they got to see an IMAX movie, aside from the admission.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the need for charter buses with bathrooms to go to MD Science Center. My 5th grader is going to Harper's Ferry next week, and they are taking the big yellow school buses. No bathrooms. Teachers make everyone go right before and right after. Maybe they stop enroute, I don't know.

Because it is cheaper to get charter buses than school district buses for out-of-county field trips, and because the school district buses have to be available for the regular routes. Or at least that's how it works in MCPS.

If it's cheaper, why is OP's field trip so expensive? Seems pretty unlikely. There are some back up buses, they don't use every single solitary bus every day. Or is MCPS really run on such a shoestring? Hard to believe.

Because it would cost even more to use the school district buses.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the need for charter buses with bathrooms to go to MD Science Center. My 5th grader is going to Harper's Ferry next week, and they are taking the big yellow school buses. No bathrooms. Teachers make everyone go right before and right after. Maybe they stop enroute, I don't know.

Because it is cheaper to get charter buses than school district buses for out-of-county field trips, and because the school district buses have to be available for the regular routes. Or at least that's how it works in MCPS.

If it's cheaper, why is OP's field trip so expensive? Seems pretty unlikely. There are some back up buses, they don't use every single solitary bus every day. Or is MCPS really run on such a shoestring? Hard to believe.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the need for charter buses with bathrooms to go to MD Science Center. My 5th grader is going to Harper's Ferry next week, and they are taking the big yellow school buses. No bathrooms. Teachers make everyone go right before and right after. Maybe they stop enroute, I don't know.

Because it is cheaper to get charter buses than school district buses for out-of-county field trips, and because the school district buses have to be available for the regular routes. Or at least that's how it works in MCPS.

DCPS doesn't have buses, so there's that, too.

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the need for charter buses with bathrooms to go to MD Science Center. My 5th grader is going to Harper's Ferry next week, and they are taking the big yellow school buses. No bathrooms. Teachers make everyone go right before and right after. Maybe they stop enroute, I don't know.

Because it is cheaper to get charter buses than school district buses for out-of-county field trips, and because the school district buses have to be available for the regular routes. Or at least that's how it works in MCPS.

Anonymous wrote:We are in MCPS and just paid $40 for our 4th grader to go to St. Mary's City. Our middle schooler has a field trip to NYC for a week in 8th grade at a cost of $900 (but they do have opportunities for fundraisers to help offset the cost).

Fundraisers to help offset the cost = hitting up your friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers to help send your child on a very expensive field trip.

Anonymous wrote:OP, as you see above, the transportation is pricier than many parents realize. This is not being done on the old yellow school bus (or even a new yellow school bus). These are done on charter buses with bathrooms on board and drives who are paid for a very long day's work.

Plus, PPs are right about PTAs either footing the bill or at least helping out with costs for certain field trips. The yardstick is usually whether a family qualifies for free or reduced price school lunches. Families who are on that list sometimes get assistance with these kinds of costs via the PTA or other funds, or so I've been told over the years. The idea is that every kid should be able to go and that kids whose families are on the school's radar as being at certain low income levels will get help. That isn't much comfort for families with twins or triplets who have several kids in the same grade but who are not qualified for free/reduced lunch; they'd still have a pretty high bill. But generally speaking, PTAs often help defray costs. Parents who are not themselves free/reduced lunch families may never even know that the PTA or other funds are there to help with these costs, because schools don't necessarily advertise the fact they are paying all or part of some kids' fees. If you can afford the trip, let your kid go and do this with the group, and be glad you can afford it. It will be rare to have elementary field trips this far or this expensive.

I am not shocked by $45 for the MSC, considering transportation. I wonder if that amount includes not just admission and a film but also something else like a planetarium show (they have one there) or science demonstrations that are not part of the usual admisssion. Askthe school for a breakdown of the costs, if you'd like to know.

The MSC is well worth going to and has interactive exhibits that you don't get at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum; plus, if your child's class is studying dinosaurs this year, the dinosaur exhibit at the Smithsonian is shut for a long time for renovation and MSC has a very good dino exhibit.

This is the PP that posted the group admission price of $19.95 with IMAX and $15.95 without. The admission price includes not only the exhibits but also the planetarium and Demo stage. I didn't note this because there is no extra cost for the planetarium or Demo stage. The IMAX ticket is the only thing that is extra.

I assumed that the trip was for school children 12 and under. If the students are 13 and older, adult group prices of $23.95 w/ IMAX and $19.95 w/out IMAX apply.

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why it costs $45

If you have low PTA funds, high amount of poorer children the ones that can pay must pay more.

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand the need for charter buses with bathrooms to go to MD Science Center. My 5th grader is going to Harper's Ferry next week, and they are taking the big yellow school buses. No bathrooms. Teachers make everyone go right before and right after. Maybe they stop enroute, I don't know.

Maybe there are special needs kids on board who need to have a bathroom nearby?

I don't understand the need for charter buses with bathrooms to go to MD Science Center. My 5th grader is going to Harper's Ferry next week, and they are taking the big yellow school buses. No bathrooms. Teachers make everyone go right before and right after. Maybe they stop enroute, I don't know.

Anonymous wrote:This happened to me last year with my kids. They are in the same grade (twins) and it was going to be 90 dollars. I am a single mom and thats our weekly grocery budget. I would of totally sent them if I had a months or 6 weeks notice (i can save 12 bucks a week and scrimp here or there and do it) but I only had 2 weeks notice of the costs. I ended up letting my kids stay home with my parents that day and I took them myself the following month. All three of us got in for under 45. Not an ideal situation for me.

That's really shitty. I'm sorry to hear that.

I would have gone to the $11 nature center. I doubt the kids get $45 of value from the science center.

We are in MCPS and just paid $40 for our 4th grader to go to St. Mary's City. Our middle schooler has a field trip to NYC for a week in 8th grade at a cost of $900 (but they do have opportunities for fundraisers to help offset the cost).

I just wrote a check last night for my 4th grader to attend the Jamestown field trip. It was $54. And just yesterday, she did a field trip to the Kennedy Center which cost $15.

There was a note on the $54 one that we should notify them if we could not attend due to $$.

This $54 one wasn't in my budget this paycheck, so I'll have to save somewhere to pay for it.

OP, as you see above, the transportation is pricier than many parents realize. This is not being done on the old yellow school bus (or even a new yellow school bus). These are done on charter buses with bathrooms on board and drives who are paid for a very long day's work.

Plus, PPs are right about PTAs either footing the bill or at least helping out with costs for certain field trips. The yardstick is usually whether a family qualifies for free or reduced price school lunches. Families who are on that list sometimes get assistance with these kinds of costs via the PTA or other funds, or so I've been told over the years. The idea is that every kid should be able to go and that kids whose families are on the school's radar as being at certain low income levels will get help. That isn't much comfort for families with twins or triplets who have several kids in the same grade but who are not qualified for free/reduced lunch; they'd still have a pretty high bill. But generally speaking, PTAs often help defray costs. Parents who are not themselves free/reduced lunch families may never even know that the PTA or other funds are there to help with these costs, because schools don't necessarily advertise the fact they are paying all or part of some kids' fees. If you can afford the trip, let your kid go and do this with the group, and be glad you can afford it. It will be rare to have elementary field trips this far or this expensive.

I am not shocked by $45 for the MSC, considering transportation. I wonder if that amount includes not just admission and a film but also something else like a planetarium show (they have one there) or science demonstrations that are not part of the usual admisssion. Askthe school for a breakdown of the costs, if you'd like to know.

The MSC is well worth going to and has interactive exhibits that you don't get at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum; plus, if your child's class is studying dinosaurs this year, the dinosaur exhibit at the Smithsonian is shut for a long time for renovation and MSC has a very good dino exhibit.