DOE To Change Field Trip Protocol In Wake Of Drowning
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A day after the release of an explosive report on the drowning of a city public school student, a closer look at that report shows just how wrong things went when she and fellow students took a trip to a Long Island beach. NY1's Lindsey Christ filed the following report.On June 22, two groups of public school students ran into each other on a train to Long Beach, Long Island. Both groups were wearing bathing suits, and planned to spend the day in the sand and jumping in and out of waves. And even though there were no lifeguards on duty when they arrived at the beach, students from both schools were allowed into the water. But only students from Columbia Secondary School got into trouble, and Department of Education officials say it's because the chaperones for the other group, PS 3 in Manhattan, made critically different choices.
"There were three things I think could have made a difference: better planning, more adult supervision and a realization of what the situation was at the beach, that there were no lifeguards," said Special Commissioner of Investigation Richard Condon.
As the DOE reviews its field trip regulations, a report by the special investigator includes a comparison on how the two schools handled the same trip that day -- from permission slips, to the number of chaperones, to choices made on the beach.
It's up to principals to make sure there are enough chaperones for swimming trips. To supervise 24 students, Columbia Secondary School sent just three adults, and one of them couldn't swim. PS 3 sent 24 chaperones for 51 students.
Realizing there were no lifeguards, the adults from PS 3 formed a "cage" of adults surrounding students in the water. The Columbia chaperones did no such thing.
PS 3 sent detailed permission slips, asking parents to check off if their children were allowed to swim. Columbia Secondary did not. And students who didn't know how to swim were allowed in the water anyway.
In the end, six students from Columbia Secondary were caught in a riptide; 12-year-old Nicole Suriel drowned. All the students from PS 3 got home safely.
Nicole's cousin says there should be stricter regulations on who can chaperone and how much parents are told.
"School should let them know who is going on the trip, see that there is enough teachers to watch over them," said Suriel's cousin.
There have been school drownings in the past, and between 2003 and 2005 swimming was banned on school trips. Now the DOE says it plans to change its field trip regulations again in light of how one of those trips was able to turn so tragic.