Suicides Have East Hampton High Responding to Ethnic Issues

Following the suicide of an East Hampton teen last fall – the third by a Hispanic student connected to the local school district in three years – a recent New York Times piece profiled the efforts the district has since taken to reach out to locals, namely an increasing Hispanic population, to prevent other such incidents in the future and draw the entire district into the community.

Following the death of David Hernandez last fall, the high school hosted a forum to discuss homosexuality and bullying, one of several measures taken to reach out to families. The article states the hiring of a bilingual liaison to the Spanish-speaking community has since brought hundreds of Hispanic parents into the discussion about what goes on after the doors close at school.

The district is attempting to keep up with a dramatically-changing student population: Hispanic students made up 5 percent of the school population 20 years ago, now up to 41 percent.

“It’s a dramatic demographic change,” said Richard J. Burns, superintendent of the East Hampton school district. “It takes a while; getting your arms around it is difficult.”

Click here to read the article in the New York Times.

How do you think the district has responded following last fall's tragedy? Do you think the hiring of a community liaison is a good choice by the district?