Hemet Unified is canceling some school field trips due to concerns about the new coronavirus.

Overnight trips or those heading out of Riverside County have been shelved, Hemet Unified School District spokeswoman Alexandrea Sponheim wrote in a Thursday, March 5, email.

Senior district administrators made the decision, Sponheim said. Canceled trips include a choir festival in San Francisco, college visits and trips to Disneyland, Legoland and Six Flags Magic Mountain.

Several other school districts across Riverside and San Bernardino counties have not canceled field trips.

On Thursday, parents began to push back against the Hemet decision.

Michelle Bassett, who was planning to travel as a chaperone to the San Franciso festival with her Hemet High School daughter — who is in Chamber Singers — requested via email that district officials reverse the decision.

“Whether to allow my daughter to go on this choir trip to San Francisco — with or without the possibility of a potential elevated health risks that may or may not exist when traveling outside of Riverside County — is a parental, not a school district, decision,” Bassett wrote to Superintendent Christi Barrett, school board members and others. “To cancel this trip due to the existence of the Novel Coronavirus is an emotional overreaction to current events.”

Choir students worked hard to raise about $37,000 toward a total trip cost of $42,000, Bassett said.

“This isn’t fair to them,” she said by phone, adding that her daughter, senior Jessica Bruce, is “devastated.”

Bassett said she and other parents plan to go to Tuesday’s school board meeting to express their displeasure with the decision.

“It’s not too late to unwind it,” she added.

John Fitzgerald has a 10th-grade daughter who was planning to go to San Francisco, too.

“Then out of nowhere the district made a decision — out of hysteria, not out of fact — to pull the plug,” Fitzgerald said. “Anyone who understands math understands how silly this is.”

On Thursday, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced that two cases of COVID-19 were identified in the city.

Citing those two cases, Fitzgerald suggested that the “most dangerous” part of the trip would be the drive to and from San Francisco by chartered bus.

Not everyone opposed the decision.

Tami Lynette’s 12-year-old daughter, Mylie, had a middle school field trip to Castle Park in Riverside canceled. She and Mylie are OK with that.

“We’re glad that they are taking these precautions to keep her and other kids safe,” Lynette wrote in an email Wednesday. “I’m glad the school is putting the children’s safety first.”

Officials with several Inland Empire school districts said they are monitoring the coronavirus situation but have not dropped field trips.

In Hemet, not every trip will be canceled, according to Sponheim.

“We are looking at the number of our students and staff that will be attending the event, the reason students or staff are attending the event, if the event is outside or in close proximity to others for an extended period of time, etc.,” she wrote. “For field trips that have been approved outside of the county, we are working with staff to ensure we are taking the necessary health precautions to reduce the risk of exposure.”

For now, only field trips through the end of March are affected. Hemet school officials will continue to monitor the situation and decide later on future field trips. If the situation improves, the district may reinstate canceled field trips.

“We take the safety and well-being of our students and staff very seriously and we want to make sure we are not putting them at further risk of exposure,” Sponheim wrote.

Medical professionals believe that young people are generally at the lowest risk from COVID-19, but the district is concerned about the dangers that potentially infected students could pose to other community members.

“While we understand the virus affects everyone differently, we also need to keep in mind we have many retirement communities in Hemet,” Sponheim wrote.

The district has 22,025 students, according to the California Department of Education.

Other Inland school districts are not canceling field trips — for now.

The Riverside Unified School District is not restricting student travel, Assistant Superintendent of Pupil Services Timothy Walker wrote in an email Thursday.

“This, of course, is a fluid situation, and may change as the situation with the coronavirus changes,” he said.

The San Bernardino City Unified School District similarly has not canceled any trips.

“However, we have a team that is preparing recommendations for multiple scenarios that we could possibly face in the future.” district spokeswoman Linda Bardere wrote in an email Thursday.

The Murrieta Valley and Moreno Valley unified school districts are taking their cue from Riverside County health officials and have not dropped field trips.

“According to the county, we should continue with normal daily activities and practice the same precautions during cold and flu seasons,” district spokeswoman Anahi Velasco wrote in an email.

Corona-Norco Unified School District administrators are “assessing risks” of trips and haven’t canceled any, spokeswoman Evita Tapia-Gonzalez said in an email.

Any cancellations would be made “on a case by case basis with the recommendations from public health officials and communicated to principals, teachers and families in advance,” she wrote.

In Redlands, a task force continues working on a response plan to the coronavirus and will be discussing field trips, among other items, later Thursday, Redlands Unified School District spokeswoman MaryRone Shell said in an email. The district could have an update for the public within days, she said.

Fitzgerald, whose Hemet High daughter was signed up for the choir festival trip, said he learned about the cancellation when his daughter came home from school Wednesday distraught.

“She was really looking forward to going to San Francisco,” he said.

Fitzgerald said he would still like for his daughter to be able to go. But if not, he said, he wants the $600 put up for the trip refunded.

Bassett said she didn’t understand the Hemet district’s focus on out-of-county trips.

“The virus is not going to stop at the county line,” she said.

Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough and breathing trouble, but most of those infected by the disease develop only mild symptoms. But some people, most often those with other medical complications, develop more severe symptoms, including pneumonia, which can be fatal.

As of midday Thursday, no one in the Inland Empire has tested positive for the new coronavirus.

Residents with coronavirus concerns can call 800-722-4794 or 211.