Student trips to Europe going ahead despite terror attacks

Henri Lemire's phone started ringing at 6:30 Tuesdaymorning and didn't stop. That's because 40 students and three teachers from coleMaurice Lavalleare currently in Amsterdam.

The students left Edmonton earlier this week, and had just settled in for their first night in Amsterdam, when the bombs went off in nearby Belgium.

"The teachers over there tell me that the students are calm, and they realize this is happening in another country although they are relatively close," said Lemire, who is the superintendentofthe Greater North Central Francophone School Board.

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However, the events in Belgium have forced students to modify their travel schedule.

"They were supposed to leave tomorrow for Brussels and Brugges, so obviously that has been cancelled." said Lemire.

Meanwhile officials with the Edmonton Public School Board met behind closed doors for most of the day, and decided all international trips from Edmonton will continue as is.

"Parents and guardians will have the final say though," saidDarrelRobertson, superintendent ofEPSB, in a written statement.

Students from McKernan Junior High School are scheduled to fly out Wednesday at noon. There is no word yet onwhether any parents have decided to keep their kids at home.

After last November'sattacks inParis, the Edmonton Catholic School board debated the issue at length just beforeChristmasanddecidedfor the safety of its students, all trips to Europe and America would be cancelled for the remainder of the schoolyear. The decision affected over 500 students.

"In the end safety had to be the first decision," said board spokeswomanLori Nagy.

Edmonton Catholic students will still go onschool trips but only to other parts of Canada.

"We haven't cancelled international field trips forever, this is just for this year so we'll definitely be taking another look at and decide if we need to do this again for next school year." said Nagy.

Students from the public system start leaving forEuropeWednesday morning.