School districts urge parents to think twice before taking children on spring break trip

With more people getting vaccinated against coronavirus as spring break approaches, more are thinking about taking advantage of those off days for students to travel.

"It’s important to get out of the monotony of staying in the house," said Dr. Eric Lipp, who has an eighth-grader and a 10th-grader in Durham Public Schools.

Lipp said staying both physically and mentally healthy during the pandemic requires some balance. That's why the family traveled to Asheville earlier in the year and plan to drive to Florida at the end of March when his children are on spring break.

As for the Florida trip?

"We have basically have a pump of hand sanitizer by everybody’s car seat so that nobody has to touch anybody else," Lipp said. "[Everyone will be], of course, wearing a mask [and] staying social distant."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to urge people not to travel, potentially causing another spike in infections and hospitalizations before a large percentage of the population can be immunized against the virus.

“DPS encourages all of our families to follow CDC guidelines, including recommendations against unnecessary travel," Durham school district spokesman Chip Sudderth said in a statement.

Wake County Public School System officials similarly said they want people to be cautious over spring break and do what they normally do in terms of daily health screenings and temperature checks as students return. Students won't need to quarantine before returning to class, they said.

"They’re remaining virtual, so we didn’t have to worry about that," he said.