The Nassau County DA's office announced it will not press charges against the NYC school teacher whose student drowned while on a class trip at Long Beach. Sixth grader Nicole Suriel, who could not swim, was in the water, even though there were signs clearly stating there were no lifeguards on duty, and drowned to death. Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice said, "The decision to visit the beach and allow the students to enter the ocean may not have been wise, but the evidence does not establish that it was a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would have observed."
Columbia Secondary School teacher Erin Bailey was fired and the school was disciplined for a series of bad decisions, including only having three teachers supervise 24 students and using blanket permission slips (which were only for Manhattan) to authorize the trip. Rice also said, "While the ultimate collective failure to prevent Nicole Suriel’s death is particularly tragic, the evidence does not support a finding of criminality on the part of any of those involved."
Suriel's family still intends to sue NYC for $20 million.
