Florida School Toolkit for K-12 Educators to Prevent Suicide

Transfer of Responsibilities to Parents: Notification and Making the Call Failure by a school to notify parents or guardians when there is any reason to suspect that the student may be suicidal is the most common source for lawsuits. School personnel have an obligation to notify parents even if the information received was second hand and the student suspected of being suicidal denied it. Denial is common. The challenge for school personnel is to get a supportive reaction from parents, increase supervision of the student, and obtain needed community-based mental health services for the student. What Do You Do If Transfer of Responsibilities Is Not Possible? • If the parents are believed to be abusive or if they refuse to obtain recommended mental health treatment in the community, then the Florida Department of Children and Families should be notified. • I f parents refuse to come to school to meet with school personnel and/or pick up the child, school staff cannot allow the student to walk home or take transportation home regardless of the parent directive. In 2013, a Maryland school district (Amory vs. Howard County) settled out of court with the parents of a student who died by suicide who was allowed to walk home at parent request after the school notified the parents that the student was suicidal. Parents or guardians must pick up the student and engage in a conference with the designated school staff member who will provide details of school assessment and available community mental health resources. If parents emphatically refuse to come to school, then law enforcement, the Florida Department of Children and Families, and mobile crisis teams need to be notified and used. It may be necessary to initiate the Baker Act (Tool 30). Confidentiality Exceptions While mental health personnel are expected to uphold confidentiality, there are exceptions. If a school staff member suspects suicidal ideation or behavior of a student, it should be considered an emergency, and information may be shared with staff members for safety reasons according to FERPA. The parents of students who are 18 years or older must still be notified. This was a key issue in the Gallagher vs. Bader case in 2016 from Loudoun, Virginia, as the student who denied suicidal behavior was 18 years old. The counselor did not notify his parents and the student died by suicide three weeks later. The counselor was personally sued. The key issue was that Virginia law stated parents only have to be notified if the suicide is believed to be imminent. Scott Poland was an expert witness for the plaintiff. Florida S.T.E.P.S.