USD 407's APPROACH TO MEMORIALS

Unified School District 407 became involved with the issue of what are and what are not appropriate memorials when the USD 407 Crisis Plan was rewritten during the 2000-01 school year. There was a section in the Crisis Plan which stated that individual memorials were inappropriate in a school setting. Individual memorial plaques, which had hung in the halls of Russell High School for a number of years, were taken down during the summer of 2001. Also, nameplates were removed from other items that had been designated as memorial gifts to the schools. As a result of these actions, there was a turnout of some very upset people at the next Board of Education meeting. These people were demanding an immediate return of the memorial plaques and nameplates to their original location.

Mr. David Couch, Assistant Superintendent of Schools (now the Superintendent of Schools), volunteered to head a commitee to discuss the situation and to decide if some sort of compromise could be worked out. Mr. Couch was assisted by Mr. Jim Balthazor, a teacher in the district who had recently had a son killed in a car accident. The committee that was organized to address the issue was composed of the following individuals: 1. the counselors of Russell High School, Lucas/Luray High School and Luray/Lucas Elementary School, and Ruppenthal Middle School; 2. three parents or relatives of those who had plaques; 3. two community members; 4. the Student Council Presidents of Russell High School and Lucas/Luray High School; 5. two members of the Board of Education of USD 407; and 6. Mr. Couch and Mr. Balthazor.

After several meetings and much compromise, the Memorial Committee made the following recommendations to the Board of Education of USD 407: 1. The memorial section be removed from the Crisis Plan. 2. The nameplates be returned to the memorial gifts that had been given to the schools. 3. The individual memorial plaques would be replaced by memorial panels to be hung by the senior composites in the main hall of the schools. 4. A new Memorial Policy would be written to replace the memorial section in the Crisis Plan.

The Board of Education accepted the committee's recommendations at its October, 2001, meeting and directed the committee to come back with a final Memorial Policy to replace what had been in the USD 407 Crisis Plan. The USD 407 Memorial Policy was approved at the April, 2002, Board meeting.

The individual memorial panels were created by Mr. Couch with the assistance of relatives of those who had previously had memorial plaques hanging on the walls of the school. Each individual panel is 10" X 23", and there are three individual panels on each composite panel. The composite panels are 24" X 36", and each composite has three of the individual panels on it. The finished composite panels were printed by LifeTouch and are displayed next to the composite senior panels in the main hall of the school.