School District In Tennessee Cancels All Field Trips Due To Low Test Scores

A Tennessee school district has canceled field trips for the school year due to low test scores in math and reading.

According to WREG, the announcement was posted on social media by a school board member, and parents are just now finding out.

Warner Speakman with Fayette County Public Schools posted,

“Due to low test scores, Dr. Hamlett has canceled all field trips. Teachers have been instructed to concentrate on math and reading.”

Some parents said they feel test scores are low because there aren’t enough teachers. “They don’t have teachers to teach the kids so how are they going to have higher test scores when half of them… they went a whole year last year without a math teacher,” said Ashley Turner, a parent of children who attend Fayette County Schools.

A local farmer, Bart Gilmer, said they have thousands of kids visit his farm a year for field trips and said he does not see any advantages to the decision.

"Kids come out here and experience life on the farm and get to see some stuff that they may have never seen before and may never get to see again,” Gilmer said. "“I don’t see where taking the field trips away from them is going to help test scores at the end of the day.”