Olathe Schools backs its policy honoring students who died amid community plea
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- Board says its policy balances honoring lost students and supporting grieving classmates.
- Bereaved mothers, mental health experts and principals helped craft the policy.
- Board backs current policy amid community plea to have deceased students names read.
The Olathe Public Schools Board of Education defended its decision not to update its policy for honoring deceased students at graduation ceremonies in a statement this week.
The public statement backing their existing policy comes as an Olathe mom has pushed the district to update it and allow her son’s name to be read. As the policy is currently written, the names of students who died are not read alongside their peers at the ceremony.
School Board leadership said Monday that the policy was formed with the help of bereaved mothers, mental health experts and high school principals. The policy aims to create a consistent approach to honoring students who died, rather than changing that approach each year, board members said.
Amber Hartsook’s son, Treyton, died in a car crash over winter break. Since then, she’s grappled with the grief of not seeing him walk the stage.
A change.org petition she made calling on the district to update the policy had received more than 6,000 signatures as of Tuesday.
“I feel like the district has a good start to the policy, but there’s a big piece of recognition missing, and I hope we can finish the work that’s been started,” Hartsook said.
Olathe Schools statement
The statement signed by School Board President Stacey Yurkovich, and Vice President Julie Steele, says the board has heard the community’s concerns and recognizes the grief felt by families who lost their child.
“The loss of a loved one at any age is heartbreaking, and we understand the grief and the conversations currently happening are deeply personal,” the statement reads. “It is important to know that no decision related to these matters is ever made lightly or without compassion.”
District leadership said that Olathe Schools experiences student deaths nearly every year — which guided its choice to create the policy as it currently stands.
The district said it offers a number of ways to honor lost loved ones, including: posthumous diplomas, their names printed in graduation programs, memorial acknowledgements during ceremonies, photo tributes in pre-ceremony videos, yearbook tributes, scholarship recognitions, senior event recognitions, student-led remembrance activities, memorial bracelets, ribbons and buttons, moments of silence, participation in senior traditions and celebrations.
“The efforts... are intended to honor the memory of students and the wishes of families experiencing loss,” the statement read, “while also supporting the individual desires and capacity of grieving classmates, parents and staff members who are either not emotionally ready to process their loss or choose not to have feelings of grief be associated with their time of celebration.”
Board leaders said the policy, JP, was “not created casually or without empathy.” Bereaved parents, mental health professionals and high school principals helped craft the policy to be as inclusive as possible, the district said.
Mental health professionals drew from their expertise in grief and trauma, and from resources such as the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, which the district quoted in its statement.
“’…the graduation ceremony is not a time to provide a tribute to those who died, since this will shift the focus away from the celebration of graduating students, it can be a time to briefly acknowledge those members of the school community who are unable to be present due to death,” the statement says, quoting the organization.
District leaders said the idea of balance helped inform the policy as its currently written.
“We fully understand and respect that there are members of our community who would prefer a different approach,” the statement said.
“At the same time, we stand by the thoughtful work that has been done through the community-led policy creation process and kindly request that all guests help us maintain a respectful atmosphere before, during and after this weekend’s important graduation ceremonies.”
