A school in Kingman has disputed key details of the National Park Service’s mission to rescue a large group of students and chaperones on a trail near Lake Mead in northwestern Arizona last week.
Park rangers reported rescuing the 28 hikers along the Arizona Hot Springs Trail on April 10, when temperatures in the canyons were expected to exceed 100 degrees.
The heat-related search-and-rescue incident and “extreme heat” conditions prompted the parks agency to temporarily close the Hot Springs and Goldstrike trails at Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
Park Service officials at Lake Mead posted on Instagram that the group comprised three adults and 25 children with special needs had attempted to reach Arizona Hot Springs without proper preparation.
That information was highly exaggerated or false, according to a letter that Dr. Catherine Normoyle, the Marvelous Microschool’s administrator, sent to parents.
In the April 11 letter, which Arizona’s Family first publicized, Normoyle contradicted the Park Service’s reporting, explaining there were 10 adults (not three) and 18 students (not 25) from the K-12 school in Kingman. Only three of those students, she stated, are considered special needs
As for whether the group was adequately prepared for the 5-mile, out-and-back hike to the Hot Springs, Normoyle stated that students were required to bring a gallon of water. Among the chaperones, there were more than 100 bottles of water to share with those who didn’t have enough.
Additionally, she continued, “we distributed over 100 hydration IV packets (and) provided food for a majority of the students.”
Normoyle acknowledged that she didn’t visually check to confirm whether every student had their gallon of water.
“Before going out on the hike, we asked each student if they had a gallon of water,” she explained, adding, “Each student verbally verified with a chaperone that they had a gallon of water. My mistake was taking the word from the students and not making them physically show me.”
Normoyle also pushed back on the assertion that the group was lost during the hike.
According to her, two adults “constantly” make the hike and “knew the trail with no problem.” She herself, she noted, had gone on the hike with students for four years.
“We had walkie-talkies with each group,” Normoyle stated. “The two guides and myself knew the location of every student at every moment.”
Park rangers initiated the rescue mission when a student on the hike called the authorities for help after another student started feeling ill on the return trip, according to Normoyle. The student who made the call did so without consulting the adults first.
“The students did what they thought was right,” Normoyle stated, adding, “What the student was unaware of is that we did have a plan for those students who were struggling, and that plan had already been enacted.”
Normoyle didn’t detail the plan nor how it was being deployed.
According to her, the group was about 2 miles from the parking lot, so the adults determined that “it made more sense to go ahead.” The student who felt ill was taken to a hospital but was never admitted and “is 100% fine.”
The incident prompted Normoyle to cancel all hikes for the time being and implement strict protocols to ensure students have all the necessary items before going on field trips.
“I’m not going to lie, these protocols are going to cause delays and less field trips,” she stated, “but it is the way it is going to have to be.”
Normoyle and the National Park Service did not reply to requests for comment on Monday morning.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: School official disputes Park Service details on Lake Mead rescue