BARRINGTON — District officials are investigating how long some fifth-grade students were left unsupervised along a trail during an otherwise successful field trip to Pawtuckaway State Park Tuesday.

The investigation began Thursday after George Dale and his daughter, Mariah, 11, who attended the trip, told Barrington Middle School Principal Michael Powers that she and five other people — two parents and three other fifth-grade students — found a pair of unsupervised classmates while visiting a popular network of trails in Nottingham.

While Dale is very happy no one was hurt, he said he became concerned after Mariah didn't return home from school and officials could not provide clear answers.

“They had kids spread out all over the place,” Dale said, adding he's concerned that officials may not have heard the whole story from the teachers supervising the field trip.

Dale said he was told Tuesday that his daughter was late getting home because her group became separated during the field trip. He said there was no mention of two other students being alone

He said the lack of information raised his concerns “sky high.”

Superintendent Gail Kushner said she couldn't confirm or deny the allegations, but visited the middle school Thursday afternoon to investigate the matter.

Kushner, who was hired as superintendent this year, said she was unaware of any previous problems on field trips.

“I am taking this matter seriously,” Kushner said. She said she hopes to speak to everyone involved by the end of the week.

Powers, who met with Mariah and her father Thursday afternoon, said he also debriefed 11 teachers and began speaking to the 10 parents who supervised 107 fifth-grade students on the team-building exercise to determine what happened and how to prevent incidents in the future.

“They found they miscalculated the distance,” Powers said organizers miscalculated the distance and had to take the students on a three-mile hike, but it turned out to be closer to 4½ to 5 miles.

As a result, some students became tired and lagged behind their groups, which were spread out along the single trail, Powers said.

“The students were never lost, but I'm trying to determine how long the students went unsupervised,” Powers said.

According to the timeline provided to her by Powers, Kushner said two buses arrived at the park at 9:40 a.m. She said by 11:30 a.m., the class reached the top of one of the park's mountains, where they had lunch before returning.

Kushner said the chaperones kept in contact with one another and the school via cell phones during the trip.

Unfortunately, Kushner said, it took longer to hike back than organizers expected, which prompted chaperones to call the school at 1:55 p.m. to let them know the field trip was running late.

As a result, Kushner said Powers sent out a “Powers alert” at 2:05 p.m. to inform parents that some buses would be late. She said this affected both elementary and middle school students, who ride on the same buses.

Kushner said the majority of the fifth grade students on the field trip were loaded onto the two available buses while a third bus was dispatched to collect the remaining students, staff and parents. She said teachers knew exactly who was on each bus, especially the last one which returned to school at 3:20 p.m.

Powers said the alert caused a lot of confusion, as inquiries from parents flooded the school office. Meanwhile, he said, it took a little longer for teachers to get complete accountability of all the students on the buses due to the rush to return everyone to school.

Kushner said school officials attempted to keep parents informed about the delay.

Dale said that around 2:11 p.m., he received an automatic phone message from the school that informed parents “something happened on a field trip” which would delay dismissal of some students.

By 3:30 p.m., Dale called the school back, but was frustrated by the response, as neither the staff nor the principal could explain where his daughter was or what was happening.

Dale said Powers later called him personally when Mariah returned to school and a teacher drove Mariah home around 4:30 p.m.

“She told me later that she wasn't scared,” Dale said. “She knew she was going to get home.”

Kushner said officials will have to review whether to return to Pawtuckaway for another field trip. She said it will depend on a well-thought out plan.

jquinn@newstote.com