MONROE - A recent request for three black students to portray slaves has ruled out one field trip option for Rea View Elementary School.

Rea View fifth-graders took a trip to Latta Plantation on Nov. 4 to hear the “Life of a Civil War Soldier” presentation. While there, black historical interpreter Ian Campbell discussed the types of work slaves had during the Civil War era.

Latta Plantation, located in Huntersville, is a cotton plantation dating back to the 1800s. The site offers several programs to be used in conjunction with classroom curriculum.

Plantation executive director Kristin Toler said Campbell asked three students to stand in front of the others, then explained the lives of black field hands, artisans and house slaves. The student representing a field hand held a burlap bag used for carrying cotton.

“They were the only black students who were in the group that day,” Union County Public Schools spokeswoman Luan Ingram said. “It just made everyone extremely uncomfortable,” including students, teachers and chaperones.

“I don’t think there was any ill will intended,” Ingram added. “I just think it was a bad decision and an insensitive decision.”

Half of Rea View fifth-graders attended the presentation Nov. 3; the other half the next day. The first group saw the same demonstration, Toler said, in which Campbell chose two black students and one white student to provide a visual. The three students chosen the next day were all sitting on the front row, she added.

Calling Campbell a “phenomenal tour guide,” Toler said he “didn’t do anything wrong except not

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ask for volunteers, which is what he’ll change in the future.” Toler said tour guides ask for volunteers “95 percent of the time anyway,” but Rea View was running late and needed to get through the presentation.

“It’s very unfortunate that something like this has been blown out of proportion,” Toler said. She added that Campbell sees his job as a way to “honor his ancestors” to make sure people “don’t forget what happened” during the slavery era.

Campbell, a former school teacher, has worked at Latta Plantation for five years — five months as a full-time employee.

Rea View has taken field trips to the plantation before as part of its social studies curriculum. Many other area schools also visit the site each year.

In a letter to Toler, Rea View Principal Donna Cook said “the experience this year was quite different than in the past.” Cook called Campbell’s decision “insensitive and offensive,” and the school will no longer visit the plantation on field trips.

To parents, Cook sent an additional letter, saying that the school does not “support or condone the insensitivity that was displayed by the Latta Plantation historical interpreter.”

Superintendent Ed Davis has asked other UCPS principals if they have any scheduled trips to the plantation. If so, he asks them to consult him first.

Ingram said future trips to the plantation will be approved on a case-by-case basis “so that everyone has a clear, clear idea of what the presentation is about” before going.

Denise Creech, assistant principal of Benton Heights Elementary School of the Arts, took kindergarteners through second-graders to Latta Plantation in October. The trip was part of their study on frontier life.

“It was absolutely wonderful,” she said. “Teachers just raved and raved about how good it was,” and students couldn’t stop talking about it.

Benton Heights students panned for gold, pet the farm animals and made their own candles. The school has taken students there for years, Creech said, and has never had problems. That doesn’t mean that other schools will have the same experience, she added.

“You could have something bad happen if you took the children on a tour of Harris Teeter,” Creech said. Creech does not condone Campbell’s actions, but would “certainly not be afraid” to go back to Latta Plantation. The school will just “watch a little closer” on future field trips.

Creech said the state is rich with cultural opportunities, but not all are close by. Some are not suitable for smaller children, she added, saying Reed Gold Mine is a great place for fifth-graders, but younger students might find the mine scary or not be able to see over the trough when panning for gold.

Rea View PTA president Julie Landis said she can understand both Cook’s and Toler’s arguments, and asking for volunteers is the “best approach.” Landis has two children, one in second grade and one in fourth grade.

After talking to other parents, “everyone just kind of felt it was a shame if any child was offended,” she said. Any kind of teacher should be “sensitive to students.”