b'Step 6: Develop Memorial PlansThe school shall develop policy regarding memorialization due to any cause and strive to treat all deaths the same way. Avoid planned on-campus physical memorials (e.g. photos, flowers, locker displays), funeral services, tributes, or flying the flag at half-staff, because it may inadvertently sensationalize the death and encourage suicide contagion among vulnerable students. Spontaneous memorials may occur from students expressing their grief. Cards, letters, and pictures may be given to the students family after being reviewed by school administration.If items indicate that additional students may be at increased risk for suicide and/or in need of additional mental health support (e.g. writing about a wish to die or other risk behavior), outreach shall be made to those students to help determine level of risk and appropriate response.The school shall also leave a notice for when the memorial will be removed and given to the students family. Online memorial pages shall use safe messaging, include resources to obtain information and support, be monitored by an adult, and be time limited. School shall not be canceled for the funeral or for reasons related to the death. Any school-based memorials (e.g., small gatherings) shall include a focus on how to prevent future suicides and prevention resources available. For more information on memorials after a death, please refer to the Memorialization section (pgs. 25-31) of the document After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools.It is noteworthy that even articles that are inappropriate to share with families may have been therapeutic for the students to create. Allowing for these memorials to stay in place for a brief period up to the funeral (up to approximately five days), and monitoring memorials while in place,is recommended to avoid hostile and glamorizing messaging and to monitor for at-risk students. Step 7: Postvention as PreventionFollowing a student suicide, schools may take the initiative to review and/or revise existing policies.External Communication The school or district-appointed spokesperson shall be the sole media spokesperson. Staff shall refer all inquiries from the media directly to the spokesperson. The spokesperson shall:Keep the district superintendent and school crisis response coordinator informed of school actions relating to the deathPrepare a statement for the media, which may include the facts of the death, postvention plans, and available resourcesthe statement shall not include confidential information, speculation about victim motivation, means of suicide, or personal family informationThe school or district-appointed spokesperson shall answer all media inquiries. If a suicide is to be reported by news media, the spokesperson shall encourage reporters to follow safe messaging guidelines (e.g. not to make it a front-page story, not to use pictures of the suicide victim, not to use the word suicide in the caption of the story, not to describe the method of suicide, and not to use the phrase suicide epidemic) to mitigate the risk of suicide contagion. The spokesperson shall encourage media not to link bullying to suicide, and not to speculate about the reason for suicide and instead offer the community information on suicide risk factors, warning signs, and resources available.Model School District Policy on Suicide Prevention | Model Language, Commentary, and Resources 13'