By Gabriela Resto-Montero, Simone Sebastian, Ben Fractenberg and Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producers
HARLEM — The parents of a Harlem student who drowned on a class trip said Wednesday that they did not sign a permission slip allowing her to swim on the excursion, as the city announced an independent investigation into the 12-year-old's death.
Borough President Scott Stringer also called for all school trips to be immediately halted after revelations there were no lifeguards on duty when the sixth-grader Nicole Suriel and her classmates at Columbia Secondary School entered the water at Long Beach on Tuesday.
Several signs at entrances to the beach also warned people not to swim, according to authorities. Only three adults apparently supervised the 24 students on the trip, according to parents.
As he announced an investigation into Tuesday's drowning, Chancellor Joel Klein told the New York Post he would wait to hear “all the facts” before he commented on whether there was enough adult supervision on the trip.
But borough president Scott Stringer called for all school trips to be immediately halted while the city investigates the circumstances that led to Nicole’s death. Stringer also demanded that Klein review the number of chaperones required by the education department on school trips.
"The senseless loss of a young and promising life, and the circumstances surrounding this tragedy, require an immediate response," Stringer said in a statement Wednesday.
According to education department guidelines, it’s up to the principal to make sure there is “appropriate” adult supervision for any school trip involving “inherent risks.”
Section IV (2) of the Chancellor’s regulations state:
"Where the trip involves activities with inherent risks (e.g., swimming, horseback riding, ice skating, use of physical fitness equipment) the principal or designee must ensure that there is adult supervision appropriate to the activity while students engage in the activity."
The city guidelines also state that the principal is responsible for ensuring that parents sign a permission slip before any class outing.
But Nicole’s parents said Wednesday that they never signed a form.
"That's the worst part because I don't know why they chose that beach without lifeguards with so many kids and so few teachers," the grieving father Juan Suriel, 43, said in Spanish on his doorstep.
"I only say, on the next beach trip don't let your kids go."
The school’s principal Jose Maldonado-Rivera could not be reached for comment.
An investigation is now underway by the Commissioner for Special Investigations for the New York City school district, an education department spokeswoman said.
