Quaker Valley School District officials adopt new policy to address memorials

The sudden death of a student or school district staffer can be very emotional not just for the families affected, but for entire communities.

People may want to show their support by bringing flowers, balloons, trinkets, stuffed animals and other objects in memory of a classmate, friend, family member, beloved educator or fallen faculty member.

The community may also want to host activities or collect funds in memory of the deceased.

Quaker Valley School District officials approved a new policy to help ensure such memorials support “a healthy expression of grief, and not a source of re-tramatization,” according to district documents.

The policy states temporary school memorials may be displayed within a school building for no longer than one week following the death or a natural break in the school calendar unless approved by the school principal.

Temporary memorials will also be reviewed by a memorial committee in consultation with the district’s crisis intervention team.

The memorial items will then be given to the custodial family by designated crisis team members.

The policy states permanent memorials for all deceased students and staff are limited to a dedicated book, an established scholarship fund, or a similar item with educational significance.

Assistant superintendent Andrew Surloff said some similar language was already a part of a policy on gifts, grants and donations. However, the new one is more thorough.

“(It was necessary) to provide guidance for school personnel and the board, based on research and best practices, to appropriately handle requests for memorials while also supporting students and staff members who are grieving,” he said. “The team who helped to write this policy consisted of administrators, counselors and psychologists, as well as the advice, research and recommendations from trusted organizations with whom we partner.”

One of the organizations was the Highmark Caring Place, which has helped thousands of youths deal with loss.

The district has worked on the policy for the past several months.

“First and foremost, our main concern is always for our current students and our staff members and their safety and well-being,” said Missy Walls, school board member and policy chairperson. “We wanted to make sure we had good guidelines in place because when these situations happen they are usually sudden and unplanned.

“We wanted to make sure we have something in writing so our staff and administration can react to these tragic situations. It’s been something that’s been in the works for a while. The staff did a lot of thorough investigation and research and brought a draft policy to the board. We pulled it together from there.”

The policy also addresses any tragedy acknowledgments or recognitions at graduations.

Those statements must be reviewed and approved by the high school principal at least three days prior to the ceremony.

Any tragedies that have occurred should be addressed at the beginning of the ceremony, according to the policy.

Prohibited memorials include ones that require the use of public funds to purchase, develop or maintain, as well as monuments, statuaries, gardens, markers or permanent memorials containing pictures of the deceased on school property.

The policy also prohibits the district from maintaining or soliciting memorial funds.

The policy was posted online as an attachment to the March 18 school board meeting agenda.

It was adopted via 7-0 vote at that meeting. School board members Stratton Nash and Corinna Skorpenske were absent.