From Deseret News archives:
Schools at a loss: How districts handle teen deaths varies
The grieving couple, particularly Darla Serassio, found that insensitive.
"There would have been some closure," she said. "It's so cold to walk in and there sits his stuff the next morning."
Principal Steve Park followed Jordan School District protocol when he had J.J. Serassio's possessions removed.
School administrators in the district typically secure and empty a deceased student's locker within a day or two, said spokeswoman Melinda Colton. In the case of suicide, it's done to look for suicide notes or messages that other students might have slipped inside, she said.
With emotions running so close to the surface, how schools deal with the death of a student can be a touchy issue. It gets touchier when the student takes his or her own life.
Schools typically contact the family, call in grief counselors, watch out for at-risk students and attend the viewing or funeral. But whether to honor a suicide victim in a yearbook or how to announce a death to the student body varies.
After a suicide last month at American Fork High School, the administration said nothing per wishes of the family. Jordan and Granite school districts make a general announcement void of specifics. At Grand County High School in Moab administrators give students as much information as possible, including manner of death, to keep the rumor mill from churning.
Both had friends, but neither was part of the "in" crowd. Blake was a soloist in the marching band show. J.J. was known more for his small stature.
Still, their suicides impacted Riverton students, including one who wrote the Deseret Morning News pleading for more information on the typically taboo subject.
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