HOBART | A Hobart High School trip to Germany was nearly nixed, just weeks before students are set to take off.

School Board members took issue with the timing of the trip, which has 16 Hobart students going to Erlangen, Germany, to stay with host families. Board member Steve Turner said plans for the June trip should have been presented to the board long before the end of the school year. With just weeks remaining and many students already having paid, it leaves the board unable to ask questions left unanswered after previous trips.

"You really put us in a tough situation," Turner told Hobart High School teacher and trip sponsor Tom Martin.

Citing concerns over safety and student behavior, board members Turner, Mike Rogers and Dave Bigler initially voted against allowing the summer trip, which began as a cultural exchange between the two schools in 1982.

Martin said the proposal's timing was due to a new partner in Germany not getting details worked out in a timely manner. He said safety always is a concern, but his students are well cared for.

"Germany is an incredibly safe country," Martin said. "I'm taking my two daughters with me."

Greg Viator, a Hobart junior and a nonvoting member of the board, said he participated in the trip last year and is scheduled to return this summer. He said it was a good experience and everything he saw went by the book.

"There are very well-respected, level-minded children going on this trip," Viator said.

Upon a second vote, Turner voted in favor of allowing the trip, while Bigler and Rogers remained opposed to the proposal.

Board President Terry Butler said there are justified concerns about the trip and the behavior of this year's group could affect the trip's future.

"We have some concerns about whether students have been honoring the Hobart handbook," Butler said.