7252 - MEMORIALS

School District Of Westfield

Bylaws & Policies

7252 - MEMORIALS
Philosophy

It is the philosophy of the School District of Westfield that memorials can and do have a place within our campus and school buildings. It is also important for the District to ensure that memorials are done in good taste and therefore should not portray or resemble cemetery markers. In addition, memorials will not add to the building or campus maintenance workload or equate to additional financial burden to the District through added utility/maintenance costs.

Any memorial accepted by the District becomes the sole property of the District and is subject to the same controls and regulations that govern the use of other District-owned property.

In all cases, a discussion regarding a memorial must be made with those District personnel identified below prior to the actual purchase or donation. The District cannot guarantee acceptance of any memorials and/or placement of the same donated without previous communication.

Monetary Memorials

Monetary memorials are encouraged. Several opportunities exist for money to be placed as or added to an existing scholarship and/or endowment to aid student activities or to further student learning. Monetary memorials will be approved and administered by the appropriate Principal and/or District Administrator.

Physical Memorials

Memorial plaques: Memorial plaques or similar kinds of memorials are encouraged above all other physical memorials. They shall be consistent in size, shape and wording with the existing interior wall hung plaque memorials, the locations of which are also to be consistent with the existing interior memorials (i.e. inside the school building).

Memorial plaque timeline: A memorial plaque honoring a deceased or former student will be placed in a school for an undetermined amount of time and will be periodically reviewed by District Administration. It is the intent of this policy to communicate to donating parties that a memorial plaque is not expected to be in a school forever. Memorial plaques will be approved and administered by the appropriate Principal. Memorial plaques associated with donated material or equipment will remain as long as the material or equipment remains.

Material or Equipment: Approval for donated material/equipment will be based on need. Those wishing to donate material/equipment shall discuss with and get approval from the District Administrator prior to plans being made to purchase or donate to the District. Those wishing to donate material/equipment considered instructional shall discuss with and get approval from the appropriate Principal prior to plans being made to purchase or donate to the District. Other school personnel will be included at the discretion of these individuals. Plaques or other similar kinds of memorial signs that are requested to be associated with donated material/equipment will be provided space in the appropriate area consistent with the item given. The District, consistent with a uniform standard as determined by the District Administration, will order all plaques.

Recognition of material or equipment: A letter of appreciation will be given to those donating or making a memorial/gift. Whenever possible, the plaque or nameplate will be attached to the physical object donated and the size and wording will be at the discretion of the District Administration.

Living memorials: Living memorials such as trees and/or landscape plantings has been a common practice. Plant, planting location, species and other details will be discussed with and approved by the District Administrator prior to the purchase and donation of a living memorial. Location requests for living memorials are limited due to space, building maintenance, and pedestrian/occupant safety issues. Locations such as the front of buildings, courtyards and/or other highly visible areas have historically been in high demand for living memorials; the District cannot honor every request for these locations. Courtyard plantings will be limited to low-growing species so as not to create an undue burden for maintenance, care and subsequent plant removal. The District will not assume financial or maintenance responsibilities for replacement of plantings at any time.

Names: Renaming buildings or parts of buildings and/or the campus is discouraged. To rename something that is already in existence and by which renaming would either add or change a name completely, is not considered prudent. The appropriate time to name a building, a part of a building (building addition) or any other aspect of the campus is during its creation/construction.

Memorial Advisory Committee

The creation of this committee is not a requirement of this policy. It is recommended that this committee be created when unforeseen problems and/or circumstances surrounding a memorial are encountered. Circumstances could occur when acceptance of a memorial triggers additional expense/commitment in time (labor) or money to utilize the memorial. This committee would be created to decide upon a course of action to resolve any conflicts that may arise with acceptance of the memorial. In addition, there is a possibility the committee may choose not to accept a memorial. This committee can be enacted by any Administrator, the Business Manager, or any Board of Education (Board) member. Members of the committee shall be determined by the District Administrator. The intent of the selection of committee members is to have those District stakeholders impacted by the memorial (i.e. curriculum, budget, facility) represented and, therefore, involved in the decision-making process. At a minimum, the committee will consist of the following:

	A.	Two (2) Board members or the Board Buildings and Grounds Committee;

	B.	District Administrator;

	C.	Principal(s);

	D.	Business Manager; and

	E.	One (1) District employee.

It is anticipated that the makeup of the committee will vary depending on the issues/problems they are called on to help resolve. In other words, a committee serves only for the duration of the issue(s)/problem(s) associated with the particular memorial.

Adopted 2/25/15