About 50 Island Pacific Academy students got a real-life civics lesson this week when their class trip to Hawaii island ended prematurely due to the federal government shutdown.

The annual Big Island field trip for the Kapolei school’s eighth grade, which started Friday, was cut short two days after the Kilauea Military Camp resort informed the group they would have to check out Monday morning.

“I understand the parents are frustrated,” Steven Caley, secondary school principal, said Tuesday.

The camp, within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, had warned its guests about the possibility of the Monday closing as early as Saturday, the day after the U.S. Senate failed to reach an agreement on a spending bill.

Hawai‘i Volcanoes Park Superintendent Cindy Orlando had informed the camp that even though the park was closing immediately, the guests could stay until 11 a.m. Monday — as long as they don’t go anywhere else in the park.

School officials monitored the situation over the weekend, hoping lawmakers in Washington would compromise to allow the government to get back in business and the camp to remain open.

Caley said school officials considered trying to find accommodations elsewhere on the island. In the end, however, they decided that the best course was to bring the students home for their safety. Panda Travel did an excellent job of working with the school to adjust the travel schedule, he said.

But even on Monday morning school officials were still hoping the students would be able to stay.

“It was looking good,” Caley said, noting that the Senate had reached an agreement that was rubber-­stamped by the House of Representatives. President Donald Trump had praised the agreement and was surely going to sign off, which he eventually did.

But the process wasn’t fast enough. The camp guests were told to leave.

“It’s unfortunate,” Caley said Tuesday. “But I plan to speak to our social studies teacher about turning this into an authentic learning experience.”

Mark Greene said his 13-year-old stepdaughter, Madison Mizon, was disappointed that she had to leave early. He said the group left Kilauea Military Camp and stayed in Hilo for four or five hours, waiting for their flight home.

“It is kind of a sad story as these kids were supposed to stay till Wednesday and won’t be able to have their trip that they paid for and was not government-­funded,” Greene said. “Why would something that you pay for get shut down? It doesn’t make much sense.”

The annual Big Island trip allows the eighth-grade class to study Hawaiian culture and the volcano but, more important, bond as a class, Caley said.

The last time the trip was modified by outside forces was in early 2016, when the school canceled beforehand to avoid the dengue fever outbreak, he said.

Another Kilauea Military Camp guest, Cynthia Traeger, praised the camp employees and the park rangers in an Instagram post Monday:

“The staff here at Kilauea Military Camp and the Volcanoes rangers have been phenomenal in the face of all this appalling uncertainty and upheaval, dealing with disappointed, confused, and angry people — all while no doubt coping with their own disappointment, confusion, and anger. Kudos and big love to them all. Mahalo for taking such excellent care of us!!!”