Frustrated parents say worries about terrorism shouldn’t have led the school administration to unilaterally cancel German and Chinese exchange trips planned for some world language students at Ridgefield High School. But they’ve had little success getting the school administration to reconsider the decision, or in asking the school board to overturn it.

“They canceled the trip without consulting with the parents,” said John Hammer, whose son was signed up to go to China. “And there’s apparently nothing I can do about it, except lose the money or accept a voucher and have someone in my family go on a future trip with the same company — which is not of interest to me. …

“The parents are exploring the possibility of rescuing the trip outside the auspices of the school, and having their own guide and having a private trip, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen,” Hammer said.

“It’s wrong on so many levels,” said Lisa Thompson, whose son was signed up for the China trip and had previously participated in the schools’ decades-old German exchange.

“It’s wrong they didn’t consult the parents. It’s wrong they’re canceling because of some terrorists in Paris. It’s wrong they’re making us eat money.”

Families face losses of $550 in non-refundable deposits and fees — or they can get vouchers from the tour company for other trips.

Thompson said she and other parents had little luck getting information or help from school board members and officials. “The parents have been discussing among ourselves what we’re going to do, and every one of them has been trying to reach out and get answers,” she said. “No one will even talk to us. It’s just not the way I thought Ridgefield education was.”

To school authorities, it’s about safety.

“In light of recent international terrorist actions and the unsettled political climate throughout Europe and beyond, we have decided it is in the best interest of all to cancel the China and Germany trips scheduled for this spring and summer,” Superintendent Karen Baldwin said in a statement.

Fourteen RHS students and two teachers were scheduled to participate in the China trip in April, and eight students and two teachers were scheduled to participate in a trip to Germany in July.

A middle school trip to Spain has also been called off by the school district.

In the Dec. 16 email that informed parents the trips were off, RHS Principal Stacey Gross said it was “a difficult decision” to cancel them.

“In making this decision we consulted with the Superintendent, Dr. Karen Baldwin, the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, the RHS administrative team, the World Language department chairperson, teachers and EF Educational Tours,” she said. “Throughout the process we considered the importance of experiential learning for our students, safety and security for our students and staff, as well as financial effects/hardships.”

The trips cost in the range of $3,800, and parents say they have to act before Dec. 31 to get all but a non-refundable $550 returned — or they can avoid losses by accepting vouchers for other trips.

But parents say it’s about more than the money.

“I really wish the school district had handled it differently, maybe called a parent meeting, given us a chance to participate in the decision-making process,” said Lili Schroppe, whose daughter was on the trip planned to Germany, with visits to Austria and Switzerland, in July. “We’re very disappointed that our child isn’t going to be able to have the educational experience we’d signed her up for. They had a great trip planned. It included travel to three countries, and culminated in a cultural exchange program with German families.”

Adam Bickelman of EF Educational Tours, which organized both trips, said in a Dec. 18 email that the company was trying to be fair to families at many schools it deals with.

“Our policies have been consistent since the tragic attacks in Paris,” Bickelman said. “We’ve been offering several flexible options to make sure that all travelers feel safe and supported. Groups may choose to revise their itinerary in their current destination, change their destination entirely (including to domestic options), delay their travel to a later date, or take a full refund in the form of a travel voucher. While there are significant costs associated with making even minor changes to group travel plans, which are often organized up to two years before the date of departure, we are absorbing those costs.

“For those School Districts, groups or individual travelers that do not want to take one of those flexible alternatives,” he added, “they then defer to our standard cancellation policy.”

Ridgefield parents said they were being asked to decide by Dec. 31 at first, but then said that was extended until Jan. 15 by the tour company.

“The total loss, if a parent decides by the end of year, is $550 of the $3,869 which we’ve paid already,” said Hammer. “I will say the company was very nice to deal with.”

“We have the option of getting cash and losing $550, or getting a voucher,” Thompson said.

Bickelman said the school’s decision to cancel “still leaves individual travelers and their parents with a few options, including taking a full refund in the form of a travel voucher, taking a cash refund less a cancellation fee, attempting to join a tour being organized at a nearby school, or having a parent serve as group leader and running the tour as a community trip.

“A very small number of travelers have called in to cancel at this time,” he said in a Dec. 22 email.

“We are working with the remaining travelers to explore the other options that are still available, and above all our hope is to find a solution that works for as many travelers as possible,” Bickelman said.

“Some parents have expressed interest in running the tour as a community-based trip, something many communities do on a normal basis, but as of now nothing has been finalized.

“We will continue to work with the group to try and make this trip a reality for all students who are still interested in traveling.”

Baldwin said in Dec. 22 email that the administration was continuing to do what it could to smooth things out.

“The parents and students affected by the trip cancellations have been varied in their responses and we are working with the tour company(ies) in an effort to secure a greater refund of the cancellation fee,” she said.

Thompson said she’s been trying to get the decision to cancel the trips overturned.

“I’ve emailed all the board. I haven’t heard a word from any of them,” she said.

Board chairman Frances Walton told The Press she would work with Baldwin to set the board’s agenda for the next meeting, Jan. 11. But she didn’t think a board reversal would be appropriate.

“The decision to cancel the overseas trips was an operational decision. In the absence of a policy framework this is not a decision that the board will revisit,” Walton said.

Thompson, whose post about the trip cancellations triggered a lengthy discussion on Facebook, said students like her son, who is in Mandarin IV, were disappointed.

“The kids were posting, too, that they’re upset,” she said.

The exchange visits alternate, Thompson said, and with this trip canceled, her son — a junior — will miss going to China altogether, since next year the RHS students would be due to host Chinese visitors.

“Next year the Chinese come here. They only do it every other year,” she said. “Next year he’s a senior, so that’s it. It’s over.”

She said the decision also shortchanged students and host families in the other countries that are part of the exchange.

“They’ve been doing this exchange for 20 years with the same German town,” Thompson said. “It’s a long tradition to just back out of because there are kooks in charge, or lawyers.”

She noted that Redding’s Joel Barlow High School had decided against canceling a trip to Paris after consulting with parents of students.

“Apparently lawyers can be circumvented in other districts,” she said.

“This is a difficult decision and one we truly believe is in the best interest of our students and staff,” Superintendent Baldwin said.

“As we reflect on the feedback we have received from our caring yet disappointed parents, we recognize that there is an opportunity for the district to develop a Board of Education policy relative to international field trips so that the discussion and decision-making process could be conducted in a forum that would provide for timely and informed parent input.”

She later added, “The Board of Education at present does not have a policy framework for international trips; it would be helpful for the board to develop such a policy to provide guidance and decision-making for circumstances such as this one. I anticipate working with the policy subcommittee in the future to develop this important framework.”

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