International Travel Risk Management
Debra Wilson, NAIS
Be sure to write . . .
 Wilson@nais.org
 202 973 9716
 What do I do?
 Who is your legal counsel?
 As a general rule…
Where are we going?
 Brief overview and context
 Tick bite case
 Rhythm of a lawsuit
 Hypothetical
Global Education/The 40k View
• Why Are We Doing Global Education?
• Education Mission meets Realities of Global Economy
• Desired Student
• Know how to investigate the world, weigh
perspectives, communicate ideas, take action,
and apply expertise in order to prosper in a
global, multi-cultural world and workforce.
• 21st Century Competencies (Asia Society 2013)
• Cognitive Competencies (academics, critical thinking,
creativity)
• Interpersonal Competencies
• Intrapersonal Competencies (learning to learn, intrinsic
motivation, grit)
Global Education/The 40k View
• Interpersonal Competencies
• Communication and Collaboration
• Vital for teamwork; heart trust, empathy,
conflict res, negotiation
• Leadership
• Vision for the future, working with people,
initiative, nimbly organize others around vision
• Global Awareness
• Important as economic, social, and cultural
connections among countries have grown
• Show understanding interrelatedness of
people, institutions, and systems
• Make connections between actions and
events
Global Education/The 40k View
• NAIS’s Global Initiatives
• International mindedness
• An independent school differentiator:
mission and value-add
• Assess the effectiveness, help teachers
• Best practices, best in class
• Global independent school community
• International student experience
• Assess the experience
• Develop and eval enculturation training
Global Education/The 40k View
• Data and Trends: NAIS Global Education Survey 2014
•
•
Global Education and Mission
•
50% great-very great extent
•
Challenges to implementation: time, clear
goals, financial resources
Global Education Programs
•
40% centralized and teacher run
•
30% just teachers
•
20% specific GE staff
•
47% GE Director
•
30% one staffer
•
21% 2-3 staff
Global Education/The 40k View
• Data and Trends: NAIS Global Education Survey 2014
•
•
Student Participation in Global Programs
•
87% upper school
•
53% middle school
•
35% lower school
Assessment and Impact of Global Programs
•
Very few use any measurements, e.g.,
GEBG, Global Empathy Scale, World Savvy
Challenge, Alejo Language and Culture
Simulator, Graduation Performance System
•
Impact perceptions include increased
awareness of issues, beliefs, values; increase
in travel programmes; increase support
school mission; attract teachers
Data and Trends: NAIS Survey 2014
•
•
Typical Global Offerings
•
89% world languages
•
76% trips
•
65% service learning
•
59% exchanges
•
57% international students
•
Global diploma, global centre, IB under 15%
Global Partners and Students
•
Global education partnerships with China,
France, Spain, South Africa, and Germany
most popular
•
Students mostly from China, South Korea,
Germany, Canada, and Mexico
Data and Trends: NAIS Survey 2014
•
•
Recruitment International Students
•
54% Travel to other countries
•
54% Use school representatives
•
43% Use agents
•
24% Use social media
•
23% Use admission fairs
How Global Education Is Used
•
58% Student recruitment
•
72% Marketing
How the law fits together
 Federal
–
–
–
–
Constitution
Legislation
Regulations
Case Law – admin and federal courts
 State
– Same
– May raise the floor on federal law
 School policies and procedures
Ideally…
 “schools are not insurers of safety *** for they
cannot reasonably be expected to continuously
supervise and control all movements and
activities of students *** [and] are not to be held
liable for every thoughtless or careless act by
which one pupil might injure another.”
Tick Bite Case
 Why is everyone talking about this case?
 What happened?
 What did the court say?
 What does this mean for you?
 What are the next steps? Focus…
– Common complaints – sexual misconduct,
death and severe injury
– Initial risk – looking for big impact areas
Main Liability
 Negligence… what does that mean?
– Duty to act (exercise such care as a parent of
ordinary prudence would in comparable
circumstances)
– Breach of the duty
– Harm
– Caused by failure to perform duty and the
failure was a “proximate cause” to that duty
(“but for” test).
Standards
 What are the standards?
–
–
–
–
UE / NAIS Survey and Summit
GEBG Standards
Incident database
School Policies and Practices
Defenses
 So then what?
 Defenses:
–
–
–
–
–
Assumption of risk
Not reasonably foreseeable
Waivers, Releases
Third party vendors / partners
Third party intervention
Expanding program
 Three years ago your board decided to require
that all students participate in one international
trip before graduation. Next year’s senior class is
the first one that must meet the requirement.
Because of this demand, the number of trips has
tripled in the last two years. The financial aid
budget has been meeting that demand, but no
other additional staff or budget has been added.
This year you have three new trips going that have
all been added in the last four months – one to
Costa Rica, one to Peru, and one to China. Two of
the trips are being led by new teachers, both in
their mid-20s. The Costa Rica and Peru trips both
employ homestays.
 How do you manage quick and large expansions
of your programs?
– Need to give yourself time and staff
(experienced)
 How do you oversee these new programs?
– Centralized approval and oversight
 What does this mean to your current programs,
those outside and inside the country?
– Funding: break even or get ahead, cannot
skimp here.
What about chaperones?
 Staff – many schools require staff to be with
schools for a time. Transition from assistant to lead
chaperone. Staff for the skills you need.
 Specific training (safety)
 Parents / Family Members – Harder to oversee.
Training needed. Some schools now paying to
ensure higher quality of engagement.
Program Oversight
 While riding in 15 passenger chartered vans
through the mountains of Peru, one van breaks
down and (a mile later), the other breaks down as
well. There is no cell phone reception in the area.
The 20 students, two teachers, and two van drivers
start to walk the remaining 10 miles. One student
starts to suffer a severe asthma attack on the way.
One teacher stays with the student while the other
teacher continues on with the remaining students
and van drivers. It is dusk when someone can
finally go for the teacher and student left behind.
Who goes? Can you find them? Will they still be
there? What should have happened on the frontend?
Can you spare a leader?
What about the students?
 Common Question: Can We Screen?
–
–
–
–
Set out requirements ahead of time
Harder when mandatory
Be aware of accessibility issues
Many schools require patterns of good
behavior and safe behavior
– Many have application processes
Student criteria for participation
Medical Information
 Pre-trip disclosures
 Reasonably necessary
 Kept confidential by those who need to know
 Students and staff
GEBG Draft Standard
 All staff and participants exchange appropriate
medical information prior to the start of the
activity, and appropriate personnel review the
information. Additional individual medical and
health concerns for international travel are
specifically addressed. The information is properly
managed and secured.
 Good idea to be very clear about limitations in
this area from the get-go. Advisor input, school
counselor input, etc. Manage the expectations of
the participants and parents from the beginning.
 What about the vans?
– Tracking international transportation rules, regs,
and norms can be difficult
– What about when the transportation is clearly
at odds with US standards?
 What about oversight on this trip?
 Students?
Pre-Trip Prep
 Pre-trip safety check – ideally go and see what
the circumstances of the trip will be. Other pre-trip
might fill in. (Lodestone, etc.)
 Pre-trip emergency scenarios for every piece of
the trip – admin moments.
 Training for staff – emergency training, wilderness,
etc.
This trip…
 What about the remoteness of this trip and the
Costa Rica trip?
 Training for staff?
 GEBG – Wilderness training (various levels
depending on situation).
 Remember to staff for the skills that you need.
GEBG Draft Standards
 The program staff has conducted risk analysis and
management for countries and locales visited and for all
program activities. (note on checking official sites)
 The program has a written emergency action plan designed
specifically for the country and locales being visited that
addresses steps to be taken in the field and/or during initial
response.
 The organization has a designated and functioning risk
management committee.
Crisis Plan for Trips
Crisis Prep
 For school leaders, trip leaders, parents, and
students (might be pretty involved depending on
trip). Scenarios.
 Briefing students daily of particular risks of days
 Phone trees
 Plan of all official resources for every step of trip
(embassies, hospitals, police, etc.)
 Trip notebook and guide on various crisis
situations. Trip specific risks and resources, all key
school information, insurance information, student
forms and health information, and other
protocols. Michigan State manual as a basis
Insurance
 Insurance is an important part of crisis prep.
 Schools and trip leaders should understand the
insurance the school has as well as the resources
available to them through the insurance
 Travel insurance for all participants, particularly
medical and the ability to evacuate if needed, is
a good idea. Especially in remote countries /
areas
Insurance types
Sneaking out
 Finally, everyone on the Peru trip is safely with their
respective host families. This is not the case in
Costa Rica. Two of the girls who were staying with
a long time host family have snuck out at night,
meeting two local boys in town. As it turns out, this
local host family has not had similar aged kids for
a while, the host is actually a 72 year old widow
and this was not difficult for the girls to do. What
steps will your chaperones take?
Host Families
 What do you know about your host families?
 How do you vet?
 Do you update your information?
 Do you check on your students?
 Has a school representative been to the houses?
 Do they understand what is expected?
 What do your home families know?
Vetting of Host Families & Others
 28% did background checks of some kind
 References from partner schools or local NGO
 Pre-visit to host families
 During longer stays – visiting students in homes
 More than one student
 List or other documentation of expectations
 Study the purpose of the host family stay and
determine worth relative to risk
 Note on UE claims study 40% of sexual misconduct
claims host family
GEBG Draft Standard
 The program has written expectations for the host
family which are communicated prior homestay
placement.
 Host families are responsible for the physical and
emotional well being of their homestay guests.
 They should be oriented to the program's mission
and expectations prior to accepting their
responsibilities.
 All homes must be inspected for health and safety
provisions by program staff or partner
organizations to ensure that they have adequate
health and safety standards for the local region
and students basic health and well being are
provided for.
Breaking the Rules
 If students get caught breaking the rules, what
happens?
 Do they know what will happen?
 Do the parents know what will happen?
 What did you do on the front-end?
 What steps do you take in this scenario?
Pre-Trip Orientation (89% of schools)
Topics of Orientation
 Orientation and documentation is the time to lay
it out all out there.
 Another place to manage the expectations on
food, housing, conditions, risks, school policies,
etc.
GEBG Draft Standard
 Prior to the trip's start or prior to enrolling in the
program:
– Stakeholders informed of, acknowledge, and
assume risks of trips
– Names and qualifications of trip leaders
– Other risks
– Appropriate agreements for allocating risk
Upon return, it seems that one of the girls had been
sexually active with one of the boys in town. The
father is a local plaintiff’s attorney and is claiming this
was rape and that the school was negligent and let
this happen. Is he right?
Negligence Claim
 Duty?
 Breach?
 Harm?
 Breach proximate cause of injury (“but for” the
breach by the defendant – would the harm have
happened?)
 Note – depending on state, variations – negligent
supervision, negligent training, etc.
 Is a teacher individually liable? Just the school?
 “…schools are under a duty to adequately
supervise students in their charge and will be held
liable for foreseeable injuries proximately related
to the absence of adequate supervision, they are
not insurers of safety of their students for they
cannot be reasonably expected to continuously
supervise and control all of the students’
movements and activities.”
 Plaintiff - Negligence
– Breach of duty? Supervise, training
 What about defense?
– Assumption of risk on behalf of plaintiff?
 Often can’t make this argument when
compelled to attend – “Inherent
compulsion”
 Did defendants do anything to increase the
risk?
 Would more supervision have helped here?
What facts would help or hurt?
 “… plaintiff must show that the school had
sufficiently specific knowledge or notice of
the dangerous conduct which caused the
injury and the that third party acts could
reasonably have been anticipated.”
 What if this happened after the teachers
knew she was sneaking out?
Releases and Waivers
 Releases and waivers go hand-in-hand with
orientation and documentation laying out risks of
the trip and behavior expectations.
Parent Waiver / Release of Liability
Releases
 Voluntarily, intelligently, and with full knowledge of
the consequences. Mandatory programs can
undermine enforceability (alternatives to
requirement?)
 Four to six part test:
– Does not adversely affect public interest
– Exculpated party not under legal duty to
perform
– Not a public utility or common carrier
– Contract does not grow out of unequal
bargaining power or otherwise unconscionable
(this is important for informed consent).
 So should you ditch releases?
– Make sure they are readable (font).
– Make sure they are reasonable and clearly
stated
– Be clear in the risks in writing and in orientations
/ training.
– Don’t require immediate signatures
– Arbitration
– General deterrent effect
– Over 18?
Student Behavior
 Students, as minors, have limited ability to enter
into agreements.
 However, they can agree to behaviors and their
parents can acknowledge the same, in addition
to the releases.
 Can also acknowledge assumption of risk on trips.
 You can take reasonable measures and present
reasonable supervision, and things can still go
wrong.
 Can get parent to sign as well.
Student Form (acknowledging risk)
Moving, vendor based trips
 The China trip is a different kettle of fish
altogether. There are 30 high school students
going with two chaperones – your Chinese history
teacher and his adult daughter. Once in China
they met up with the tour operators, two adults
who you have never met but who likely work for
the government. The trip is largely in cities, but
also includes some rural areas.
 What do you do for preparation?
Vendors
 Enforceable agreements
 Indemnification clause
 Adequately insured
 Safe trip guides – training, reviews, go on a trip if
you can
 Clarity around deliverables and expectations
 Emergency planning – particularly when providing
transportation.
Third Party Vendor Contracts
GEBG Draft Standards
 Steps are taken to assess the subcontractor’s
competencies prior to the trip or activity start
 Vetting of a third-party provider should include:
qualifications of guides/activity leaders, thirdparty provider insurance, history, incident record,
equipment used and inspections.
 Assess the subcontractor’s performance,
specifically as the performance relates to risk
management.
 The organization keeps appropriate files on
persons or groups that are subcontracted to
provide services.
What about unique travel locales?
 Moving trips require updates for students
 Risks of the day
 Expectations of meet-ups, potential issues, hotels,
etc.
Onsite Orientations
 The trip is now in Shanghai and headed to Beijing,
by overnight train tomorrow. Before the group left
there was a rumor that the President of the
People’s Republic of China was gravely ill. Word
has just reached you back at the school that he
has died. You have not heard from your trip
leader for two days and people say that there is a
lock on electronic communications from the
country.
 What happens on your end? What will your trip
leader do?
Communication Plans
 Every trip should have consistent communication
plans and strategies with those on the trip and for
contact with school
 Think about adding one for students
 Back-up plans, and then back-ups to the back-
ups
 What check-in systems do you maintain while
traveling?
 Once in Beijing, the group has checked into their
hotel and with the school. There is a local curfew
and mourning flags are hung. The chaperone
reports that he feels that all is well. Several
students make friends with local Chinese kids. The
students invite the Chinese kids to the hotel and
the Chinese kids are intercepted by several
individuals who take them away in black cars.
Several of the trip students are locked in their
rooms by the floor matrons without explanation. In
the meantime, a couple of students sneak out of
their rooms after the city curfew and steal a few
mourning flags as souvenirs.
 The press meets the group back at school where
the students proudly unwrap the flags.
 Has anything gone particularly “wrong” on this
trip?
 Does the school have any liability?
 What would have happened if the students had
been caught?
 What will the post-trip evaluations look like?
 What does the PR look like?
 What would it have looked like in 1984?
Post-Trip Student Eval
Post Trip Evaluations
 Students, chaperones, and parents
 Particularly right, particularly wrong
 Places for improvement
 Was the trip worth it?
 Reporting out to school community?
 What else?
 Questions…
 Resources
– Center for Curriculum Redesign
– UE / NAIS Survey and Summit Publication (including
checklist)