Loss of DHS student prompts serious discussion

DAYTON– The Dayton School District and the community experienced the tragic loss of the one of its high school youths to suicide last week, school directors discussed during the May 9 work session. Prosecuting Attorney Dale Slack and Deputy Prosecuting Attorney April King, who also act as County Coroners, attended the meeting by Zoom and expressed concern during the public comment portion of the meeting about whether appropriate resources are being offered to students to curb negative impact.

The Board also embarked on the search to fill the combination position of high school principal and superintendent, and mulled the district’s 60-Day Plan and the social emotional learning curriculum “Character Strong” with possible action to approve its purchase. No decisions were made at this time.

Superintendent Guy Strot offered assurance that they identified early which of the students were closest to the victim and took them out of their regular classes for support from Sam and Kristy Korslund throughout the week, with additional support during the weekend and ongoing. Sam is the Athletic Director but is also a pastor at one of the local churches, and Kristy is the District’s Behavioral Specialist.

Other local counselors and pastors were also called on to be of support. District staff will be watching for kids showing signs of at-risk behavior. Parents will also be notified that Mrs. Korslund will be meeting with all classes in grades 7-12, and will be able to opt their students out if they choose.

Having the difficult conversations is part of the positive culture the district is trying to promote, Strot said, particularly with the plan to use the K-12 social-emotional learning curriculum, “Character Strong,” which will help give staff and students the tools to act with compassion and empathy on a regular basis, not just when tragedy occurs.

Strot has experience with using the curriculum in his previous position and said that it is widely used.

“Through a traumatic event, I saw a lot...of people really looking out for each other, really caring for each other,” Chairman Jeff McCowen acknowledged. “I wish everybody got a chance to see how beautiful that is on the back side of tragedy–people really coming together, kids looking out for each other, kids looking out for adults, adults looking out for kids, adults looking out for each other.”

He commended the staff for balancing all of the needs during a difficult time.

During public comment, one high school student shared her own experience with attempted suicide when she was younger and that she feels local counselors and police could take suicide more seriously by admitting individuals to a mental health facility for a couple of days. She also shared her knowledge that the deceased student was bullied, which needs to be better addressed. She said that mental health has to be validated and more professional services should be offered to students and families.

“Anything like this that happens is definitely saddening to go through especially when we’re losing one of our students and we hear things like this,” Director Aneesha Dieu responded. “Because no matter what, this person is part of our family, and that’s the way I see the school...I do see that we all need to be here and support each other because we are a family. Whether or not we lose somebody that we know directly or...somebody that we hang out with them every day at lunch time, it’s all the same and it’s extremely saddening to see.

“I take this as...a way to show that we as a school and a community need to come together – the fact that we can come together because we’ve shown that with this last week,” Dieu said. “We need to be strong for you guys as students. We need to show support, and we need to be here for one another...We need to show everyone that we care.” She then said she and the Board is available anytime.

The Board discussed briefly Character Strong. On the agenda for the previously scheduled meeting was a presentation with Q & A by co-founder John Norlin. Board members Grant Griffen and Dieu expressed the desire to have him or another representative present at the next regular meeting on May 18 to provide an opportunity for staff and the community to learn more and ask questions before approving the purchase. Strot and the Board voiced support for the curriculum because it includes professional training for staff and resources for parents. The district can also choose portions that fit its needs. The professional training provided can be onsite or online on demand, but it doubles the cost. Strot assured the budgeted funds are available to cover the expense.

Public comment was in support of the curriculum with some questions posed by Pearl Dennis about kids feeling safe to share without backlash from students or staff. Also, she questioned who would teach and in what format–small or large groups. McCowen said he would address questions directly with her. The Board voted in favor of tabling approval until the May 18 meeting.

With Strot leaving after June 30, the Board discussed steps to fill the high school principal and superintendent combination position, and was eager to hear what needs attention from the 60-Day Plan before that time.

Strot suggested they consider filling the position with a temporary person to allow more time to find a suitable candidate. He thought the position would require more for principal duties over that of superintendent and he pointed out that the person would need a principal’s certificate but no certificate is required for superintendent. He added that they can choose to pay for a headhunter that would have access to a database of available candidates or solicit their own. Typically, districts utilize services from ESD 123, but it’s too late in the year.

Board members were in favor of finding a temporary person and possibly source from within the district or locally while forming a superintendent search committee. Strot will provide a job description for the Board. McCowen expressed that he wants to provide some stability for the staff during the transition.

Strot said that McKinstry will be coming before the Board with status on the grant application for funds for capital improvements. They are the consultant firm and general contractor in charge of the grant process and potential projects. If the grant is not awarded, funds are set aside to go forward for work on some of the improvements. The master schedule for the secondary school students is also being completed and committees for the math curriculum will be making a recommendation to the Board in June. Science and social studies curriculum are in the process of being reviewed, too. The district is also working on filling the open positions. Strot agreed to the request of Griffin that the Board receive a copy of the updates to the plan in writing.