Pillow Academy's eighth-graders are scheduled to travel at the end of the month to Washington, D.C., but parents, jittery after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, are raising concerns that may affect whether that trip goes forward.
A parents' meeting has been set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the school's cafeteria. The purpose of the meeting, according to Pillow Academy Headmaster Russell Robertson, is to talk to parents and give them a chance to express concerns and ask questions.
"We are planning to go ahead with the trip at this point, but we are taking a wait-and-see approach," Robertson said. "We are aware that at some point things may change as action is taken by our government, but we are continuing to wait and watch."
Robertson said he wants parents to feel at ease, and if there is any doubt about the safety of the children, the trip will be cancelled.
The students and their chaperones are scheduled to depart from the school by bus on the morning of Oct. 29 for the five-day trip.
"If it is safe, we want the kids to go," Robertson said. He also said that Harold Johnson, owner of Jackson Tour and Travel, will be present at the meeting to answer any questions. Jackson Tour and Travel is the touring company making arrangements for the trip.
The Pentagon in Washington was one of the targets hit by the suicide terrorists who hijacked four commercial airlines on Sept. 11. Another plane, which crashed into a Pennsylvania field after passengers challenged the hijackers, was reportedly also bound for Washington.
"We've had some parents say, 'My child is not going,'" Robertson said. "And I understand that. We did look at postponing the trip until spring, but dates are hard to secure at that time of year in Washington, D.C. And I feel like if any action is going to be taken, by that time it will have already happened."
Jondi Brackeen is one parent who has decided not to let her son, Jonathan, make the trip.
"This is my decision. Our country is in such turmoil now," Brackeen said. "It's a great trip, but under the circumstances, I don't want my child exposed to anything that may not be safe.
"I know we've been encouraged to make a statement to the terrorists that we are not scared, and that we shouldn't let them dictate where we go and what we do, but I don't want my son to be the one to make that statement. He is just too precious to me, and I am not normally an overly cautious parent."
Ellen Mae Coleman, an English teacher at Pillow, and also a mother and a chaperone for the trip, said she is concerned, but thinks the trip should not be cancelled.
"Washington, D.C., may be one of the safest places to be right now," Coleman said. "We will always be uncertain now, but I think we should go."
Greenwood businessman Bill Crump, who previously worked on Capitol Hill and who is making arrangements for various tours during the trip, has been constantly discussing plans with his contacts in the nation's capital.
"All the tours and buildings are open," Crump said. "And with the reopening of Reagan airport today, that will really bring Washington, D.C., back to normalcy."
Crump has been working directly with the offices of U.S. Sens. Thad Cochran and Trent Lott as well as the FBI in arranging visits for the students while in Washington.
"There's always been heavy security in D.C. anyway," Crump said. "But this has not impeded the tours, and I don't think there will be any problem."
Jack Henderson, dean of students at Pillow Academy, also has a child going on the trip, and he will be chaperoning as well.
"I am perfectly confident in Jackson Tour and Travel, the people in Washington and Bill Crump," Henderson said. "If they tell me it's safe, then I want to make the trip. They are working really hard to ensure the safety of our children. I've got faith in those guys."
