Statement of Intent and Purpose: Our District supports the desire of friends and family to provide a memorial for a deceased student, staff member, or community member, as an expected and healthy response to grief and bereavement. However, as schools are locations designed primarily to support learning and decisions regarding permanent physical memorials on district property made in the immediate aftermath of a death may be done without full consideration of the potential long-term implications for the students, staff, and community, memorials are encouraged to take the form of scholarships or endowments. It is discouraged to use any school property, buildings, or lands, as the venue for permanent memorials for students or staff.
In consideration of these objectives, the Board of Trustees has established the following criteria for both perpetual memorials as well as memorials applied in a single circumstance (i.e., “one-time”):
- In all cases, perpetual memorials will be encouraged to be in the form scholarships, awards, or endowments to honor the deceased.
- One-time as well as perpetual memorials in the form of scholarships or endowments must be created and named in partnership with the District. They will be established and maintained by the non-district partner and administered at the agreed-upon interval by the appropriate entity within the District.
- Either a descriptive purpose or the name of the deceased, or both, may identify one-time or perpetual scholarships or endowments.
- Memorials that involve the retirement, alteration, or discontinued use of school property or school publications will not be accepted.
- District funds may not be used to purchase, develop, or maintain memorials.