The Toronto Catholic District School Board has cancelled all upcoming March Break and Easter trips to Europe as the novel coronavirus continues to spread in that continent.

“Our board does not allow travel to places that pose a risk to the health of our students, and we do not consider travel to these countries to be safe,” read a statement sent Tuesday to trustees from the board’s director of education Rory McGuckin.

“There exist concerns that our students and staff could be exposed to the virus in airports and other public spaces, while on tour, or potentially even endure lengthy quarantines.”

The decision impacts educational trips run by private tour companies that were planned at 12 Catholic high schools.

Meanwhile, at the Toronto District School Board, there are 14 European trips planned for March Break, spokesperson Ryan Bird said.

“Staff are monitoring the situation closely and a final decision on whether these trips will proceed as planned will be made in the near future,” Bird said.

The announcement by the Catholic school board comes a day after the Canadian government upgraded the travel advisory for northern Italy, a hot spot for the virus called COVID-19. Officials now warn against all non-essential travel there. They advise travellers to “take normal security precautions” in the rest of the country.

There’s been about 2,500 cases and 79 deaths in Italy so far. Most are concentrated around the northern region, which includes popular tourist destinations such as Milan and Venice.

In the rest of the continent the situation is evolving rapidly. There have been almost 200 cases reported in Germany, about 150 in Spain and more than 200 in France.

The daily reports of COVID-19 outbreaks in European countries have “created a heightened sense of concern for the students and staff members from TCDSB schools travelling on school excursions with different tour providers,” McGuckin said in the statement.

The decision was made “out of an abundance of caution and concern for the safety of our students and staff,” he wrote, adding he met with principals from affected schools on Monday and was told the “majority” of impacted students and families were hoping the tours would be cancelled.

The note added that cancellation insurance provisions only take effect once the board cancels trips, and “schools are not permitted to cancel on their own without suffering consequences from the insurance providers.”

The board did not immediately respond to a request for more details on how many trips are impacted.

The educational excursions let students experience European history, art and architecture first-hand and, in some cases, practise their language skills.

Catherine Cook purchased what was supposed to be “a beautiful trip” for her son, a student at Neil McNeil High School, months ago.

The students, accompanied by staff chaperons, originally planned to fly into southern Italy and continue to Venice, Florence and Milan.

Cook’s son is left “disappointed,” although “we’ve been kind of expecting that this was going to happen.” Before the decision came down from the board, there was talk of possibly changing the itinerary to avoid the hot spots.

“What irritates me is that the board is stepping in and making a judgment based not on anything the government of Canada is issuing,” she said.

Oliver Mason said parents were informed Monday that a 10-day trip to Venice, Sicily and Rome for students at the TDSB’s Harbord Collegiate Institute was cancelled.

He agrees with the decision to “put the safety of students and teachers first.”

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But he said he was told families like his and the 13 others who didn’t purchase travel insurance with the independent tour company BrightSpark Travel are left on the hook for all costs.

The trip cost about $7,000 for his two daughters.

“The idea that a bunch of parents should subsidize a multimillion dollar travel company for their potential losses is a little much to me,” he said.

Justin Stepanowicz with BrightSpark Travel said the information presented at the meeting with parents at Harbord Collegiate was premature. The company will first focus on the “vast majority” of parents who purchased insurance, but will try to work something out with the board for families like the Masons.