|
|
Article: Suicide prevention and schools: prevention programs must receive the endorsement of administrators and boards of education.(CRISIS RESPONSE)
- Article from:
- District Administration
- Article date:
- April 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Professional Media Group LLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
IT'S UNLIKELY THAT MANY AMERICAN school administrators have heard of Barbara Mares. Even fewer realize that last year this Lenexa, Kan., woman nearly redefined the legal obligation of schools toward suicidal children in Kansas, and perhaps the nation.
In August 2006, a state court ordered the 29,000-student Shawnee Mission School District in Johnson County, Kansas, to stand trial for alleged staff negligence in connection with the deaths of Mrs. Mares' sons. Jason Mares, 16, hanged himself in February 2003. Seven months later a distraught Justin Mares, 18, also hanged himself.
In June 2007, two weeks before the trial date, the district settled out of ...