It can’t be easy to tell high-achieving students that they can’t attend international competitions in the United States.

But that’s exactly what the Toronto District School Board did last year after President Donald Trump imposed a ban on residents from six mostly-Muslim countries.

TDSB chair Robin Pilkey explained at the time that the board is committed to equity and inclusiveness so “it’s not appropriate that some students would not be able to attend based on their country of birth.” In other words, everyone should go, or no one should go.

That was the right decision then and it’s the right one now. The board should stick with it despite a rising tide of pleas from some students who are worried about missing out on once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

Among them are Maisha Fahmida and Maheep Bagha, who last year travelled to a conference held by DECA, an international association of high school and college students in business, finance and marketing. The Bloor Collegiate students hope to be able to go again this year and have asked others who want to travel to competitions in the U.S. to create minute-long videos to send to the TDSB. A petition is also circulating to push the board to change its policy.

“Not being able to have that opportunity, and going to the next level — the final stage of the competition — is unbelievable,” Fahmida told CBC Radio.

As compelling as the students’ arguments may be, the board should resist changing its policy until the ban against travellers from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen is overturned by the courts or dropped.

The board is not alone in its stance. The Girl Guides of Canada were the first to set an example and announce that its members won’t take any trips to the U.S. “We hope that members will appreciate this reflects our commitment to inclusivity and equal opportunities for all girls and women,” the organization said at the time.

Nor is assessing whether students will be turned back at the border as easy as knowing what country they were born in or what passport they are travelling on.

Last year there were many cases of Canadian-born citizens being turned back at the border solely because of their religion or skin colour. Among them was Yassine Aber, a Montrealer of Moroccan origin who was stopped at the Quebec-Vermont border when he tried to cross with his university track team.

As difficult as it may be for some students to miss out on learning and networking opportunities south of the border, the TDSB’s position on inclusiveness is not only right, it’s the most important lesson they could ever be taught. The board should not be swayed.