New York State needs a field trip accident database

School field trips are integral to supporting curriculums, but they are not without their risks.

In 2012, Plainedge students were on their way to a learning center in Cold Spring Harbor when a school bus driver backed into a tree limb. A 12-year-old was hurt, and the driver arrested and charged with driving while impaired.

There have been tragic outcomes for Long Island students on field trips as well. Many may recall the drowning of a Long Island middle school student while on an end-of-the-year field trip last spring. A Sag Harbor sixth grader, age 12, died in the Poconos after his raft capsized. The rafting company had five guides; all were in kayaks and none were riding with the students, The East Hampton Star reported. Life jackets were being used.

In 2023, a bus carrying student musicians from Farmingdale High School crashed in Orange County on its way to band camp in Pennsylvania. Two adult chaperones were killed, and 13 students were seriously injured, as was another adult chaperone. A final report concluded that the front left tire blew out on the bus, whose tires were underinflated and damaged. The bus company, Regency Transportation, had failed prior inspections and was on the state's list of unacceptable operators.

These disparate incidents are all regrettable. Considering them together, I realized there is an information gap for school planners. What is needed — and what New York State does not have — is a dedicated field trip accident database.

A field trip incident report generated by the state would be sent to school districts for required reporting. The database would contain specific information including the destination, how many students were injured, injuries sustained and how they happened. Incidents involving New York school districts would be gathered there, but the locations would extend out of state, as the Poconos example shows. In that case, information about safety, supervision and the role of the rafting provider would be invaluable for districts planning similar trips.

Teachers interested in planning a field trip to a particular venue could check the database to assess its safety record. For water or swimming incidents, the database could inform teachers about whether there were lifeguards on duty, and if so, was staffing sufficient or is more supervision needed? Teachers planning an end-of-the-year trip to an amusement park could similarly ascertain its safety by reviewing previous field trip incident reports.

Parents would certainly benefit from a statewide database. Rather than just blindly signing a consent form with little information provided about an upcoming trip, they would now be able to make informed decisions. Would they readily give consent to any kind of field trip that would put their child in harm's way?

When I led Lynbrook Public Schools, worry about whether a destination was safe was my top concern. Beyond that, the most important variable was supervision: What would be the ratio of teachers to students? Transportation was also important, and so was the presence of a school nurse and a portable automatic external defibrillator.

This transparent tool would be very helpful as school planners decided whether to give approval for trips. School administrators and boards of education would be able to take their safety concerns to the next level by completing a risk assessment using it.

It is time for the New York State Education Department and the State Legislature to address this void and help make field trips a safer instructional alternative for all students. Establish a centralized state field trip database.

This guest essay reflects the views of Philip S. Cicero, retired superintendent of Lynbrook Public Schools.