Irving yearbooks recalled: Memorial inside against district policy

As class lets out at Irving Middle School, students are breaking for summer without an end of year staple: their yearbooks.

"It made a bunch of people really upset,"

It’s because of pages 19 and 20 inside: a memorial honoring 8th grader Taylor Miller, who was killed in a car accident last November. The tribute was published without district approval.

"The publications teacher, she kind of decided that we should have it and we all agreed that that was a good idea,” student Alyssa Brown, who served on the yearbook committee and was a close friend of Taylor’s, said. “The principal Mr. Shanahan approved it as well.”

Taylor’s classmates said she left a lasting impression on them, and wanted her legacy to live on.

"She really impacted a bunch of our lives so we just wanted to give her a memorial,” friend Janae Bunstock said. “Something special, something we could keep with us, and something to honor her."

But it turns out, that’s against Lincoln Public Schools guidelines. The staff didn’t know that was a policy until last Friday, when the books had already been delivered, and distributed to some students in the publications class.

"Knowing that she is not going to be remembered, it hurt a lot," another friend, Lilyan Lam, said.

Tributes to teachers have been published in Irving’s yearbook in the past.

Educator and coach Everett Smith died suddenly in November 2012. The school’s publications class included a memorial page for him in the 2012-2013 yearbook, when was passed out to students. Smith served at the school for more than 6 years.

LPS says today, that wouldn’t happen because of a guideline change they implemented in 2015.

"We absolutely want to be able to maintain common, consistent response to any student death, any staff death so that when one of these horrible incidents happen, people in the school community and the community at large will know how LPS will respond," Brenda Leggiadro, the student affairs supervisor for LPS, said.

District officials revisit policies and guidelines regularly, especially when it comes to sensitive subjects like death.

They have a cross–the–board mantra: every student and teacher death should be treated equally, no matter who they are or how it happened. That means if one student is honored, every student has to be honored. 

But many parents and students asked Channel 8 Eyewitness News, why pull the books when they’re already printed, and in the hands of some students?

"We have no idea where some of these students are coming from,” Ursula Vernon-Hansen, the crisis team coordinator for the district, responded. “So if we have this memorial, I’m uncertain how some of these students would react."

They also said it could be unfair to other schools.

Goodrich and Schoo Middle Schools both had students die this school year.

Both schools denied public memorials for the students.

"We want to make sure we are consistent across all of our buildings as well as consistent from student to student," LPS student services director Russ Uhing said.

Grief is another key point. LPS said everyone handles it differently, especially children. They said their main focus is helping children learn how to deal with grief in their own, healthy ways.

While some students may invite the idea of a memorial, other children might see it as uncomfortable, or even glorification, which could send the wrong message. LPS said in this situation, its best to error on the side of caution.

Taylor’s friends and family are no exception to being included; the district just wants to make sure every student feels the love and support from LPS that Taylor gave to her friends.

Irving Middle School has returned all the books to Wadsworth Publishing to be reprinted. The new ones should be received later this summer.