Batch 6: Free Write Death of a Student

It was a horrible day for The Bay School, one of its most beloved students passed away.  The Bay School had never encountered such a tragedy as a death of one of its students before.  The student had been sick and hospitalized for sometime but it was a complete shock when the news came.  Everyone was called into the conference room and it was announced.  There was not a dry eye in the building and everyone was mourning the loss.  We sat in that room for hours crying and sharing stories of how that student had affected each one of our lives.  The organization in which I intern has policies and procedure for just about everything but not this.  The news was delivered to us as soon as the director received it and there was no protocol of what would happen next.  This got me thinking should there be a procedure in place in educational organizations if there is a death and what would that procedure/policy look like.  Somethings I thought the organization could of done better: I think the school should have waited until the end of the day the announce the bad news.  Announcing it during work caused emotional chaos and many people could not even work after finding out the news.  Also, no one told parents of students at the school until a week later which seemed to be a little late.  Lastly, I think having some sort of counsling could of been called to help people start to process this unfortunate circumstance.  Even though I think the organization has many strengths, I think The Bay School could benefit from having a policy/and or protocol for student deaths.