Oneida Student Left on Field Trip
By Shane Gilreath
[email protected]
An unnamed Oneida student was accidentally left behind during a school field trip on April 21, 2025. The trip took place at the Aspire Inspirational Recreation, a 370-acre complex in Clinton, Tennessee, and while the school cannot give an exact account of how long the student was left at the park, Dr. Jeanny Phillips, Director of Oneida Special Schools, told SCN they do have an estimate. According to reports, the school bus assigned to the trip could not turn around, but once the mistake was realized, a separate school assigned vehicle, according to Phillips, was dispatched back to the park to retrieve the student.
While SCN cannot confirm specific disciplinary action, given the school district’s standard policy on personnel matters, Phillips told SCN that there had been internal action. “I can confirm,” Phillips said, “that disciplinary action was taken to address those found responsible.”
The incident has caused the district to revisit and tighten their protocol. Phillips said that for future outings, roll call will be undertaken by two adults and each student will be visually accounted for and each student will be assigned to a small group supervised by an adult as a preventative measure.
Due to privacy laws, the student, nor the student’s age, has been released.
