A trip to Europe is a wonderful opportunity for students but not something the school district can afford to contribute money towards, trustees decided at their Nov. 25 meeting.The request for financial assistance came from Agnes L. Mathers school in Sandspit, which is organizing an 18-day trip to Venice, Rome, Paris and London this spring. The trip is a chance of a lifetime for many students, wrote organizers Donna Hodgson and Susan Standbridge, but will cost each of them $5,000.So far, the students have raised about half the required fee but must have the full amount in place by Dec. 25. The organizers asked for any assistance possible from the school district.But trustees said the school district simply can't afford to fund trips to Europe, and that even if they did find some dollars for this trip, it could lead to more and more requests from other schools."It's a dangerous precedent to set," said trustee Christine Martynuik. "In all fairness... we can't finance them."The school district does fund sports teams which travel off-island to provincial tournaments, under a policy that was updated earlier this year.