In the natural order of things, a child’s first experience with grief is supposed to be the death of an elderly relative or perhaps a beloved pet — not someone their own age. But in schools across Polk County this year, teachers have had to set aside lesson plans to help students grapple with shocking losses.
Just before 6 a.m. on Jan. 23, Yeriel Gonzalez, a 15-year-old student at Auburndale High School, was riding his motorized stand-up scooter near the center of the southbound lane of 34th St, heading to a friend’s house before classes began.
John Barrett III, 29, of Winter Haven was driving a Dodge Durango, northbound on 34th Street, on his way to work.
That’s when their worlds collided.
Investigators said that as Barrett approached the intersection at Avenue S NW, several dogs ran into the roadway and Barrett swerved to avoid hitting them. He entered into the southbound lane — and into the path of Gonzalez, who hit the right front of the SUV.
Gonzalez died at the scene. Officials with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office say no charges are expected against Barrett.
A staggering number of tragedies
Gonzalez was the latest of at least 21 Polk County Public Schools students who have died since June 20 — one of the highest rates in memory for a school year, or even several school years combined. At least nine students have died in traffic accidents:
- Gage Rogerson, a 16-year-old Tenoroc student and two others, including a 16-year-old girl and 19-year-old male.
- Brandon Arcadipane, a 9-year-old killed in a rainy day crash near the Green Swamp.
- Luis Yadiel Nieves Boria, an 18-year-old in a high-speed crash.
- Siblings Sariyah Stephens, 6, and Denver Stephens, 13, both Rochelle School of the Arts students.
- Andres Martinez, a 9-year-old on a bicycle killed in a hit and run in Fort Meade.
- Jalina Anglin, a 5-year-old killed in crash with an Auburndale Police car.
- And Jaxon Crabtree, a 15-year-old hit and killed by school bus while crossing Pipkin Road to reach Kathleen High’s Center for Aerospace Excellence.
A list of deaths of unidentified students sent by PCPS at LkldNow’s request shows that, in addition to the nine traffic fatalities, three students were murdered — two by their own parents.
- Aiden Hutchins, a 10-year-old killed by his mother, along with his 19-year-old sister Hannah Griner, during a custody dispute near Lake Wales.
- Stephen Lee Rodda, a 16-year-old shot by his father in Lake Wales.
- Quashawn Burgess Jr, a 15-year-old gang member shot in a driveway in Winter Haven.
Jose Torres, a 17-year-old Frostproof Middle/Senior High School student, died in a jet-ski accident over the summer, while five others, including Harrison School for the Arts junior Julia Black and Carter Andre Cuff, a 17-year-old basketball player at Auburndale High School, died in “off-campus incidents.”
One student died by suicide.
Polk County Public Schools Superintendent Fred Heid became emotional as he talked about attending a memorial service for Cuff in December.
“I’ve got to tell you, Auburndale’s event this last weekend in remembrance of their senior who passed — an amazing young man — reminded me far too much of my own son,” said Heid, holding back tears as he thought of his son, Freddy, who is a student at George Jenkins High School.
Empty chair in the classroom
On the evening of Oct. 27, Harrison School for the Arts junior Julia Black was texting with a friend and getting ready to meet her mom for dinner, but her messages inexplicably stopped. When her mother couldn’t reach her, she asked a neighbor to check on Julia, who was found collapsed.
Polk County Fire Rescue rushed to the teen’s home at 8:23 p.m. that Friday, but paramedics were unable to revive her. In Black’s obituary, her family said she suffered a sudden cardiac arrest caused by a pericardial infection.
Harrison senior Taylor Maher met Julia when the two were in elementary school together at St. Paul Lutheran School.
“I told her that I didn’t have many friends because it was my first year and I was fairly new,” Maher said Thursday evening. “She was like, ‘Do you want to be my friend?’ And I was like, like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ … We were little and I think that that stuck with me.”
The pair attended St. Paul throughout elementary and middle school, then both transferred to Harrison School for the Arts, where Maher plays flute and Julia was first-chair oboist. She also played on sister school Lakeland High’s volleyball team.
Julia, who many people described as a bright shining light and loved by all, spent her final orchestra class that Friday joking and talking in a British accent for the entire class.
“Someone told me when you lose someone, you don’t just lose a person, you don’t just grieve that person, you grieve their purpose.”
Taylor Maher, student at harrison school for the arts
“Music is the most important thing to me and I have a very deep connection with the people that I play music with and I share with — like, it feels like a big family,” Maher said. “So it makes me sad that she’s not a part of that family anymore. I mean, she always will be, like she 100% she always will be, but it just, it sometimes makes me sad when I hear the oboe and the solos that she was supposed to play that now someone else plays.”
At Julia’s funeral, Taylor said the orchestra played Appalachian Morning by Robert Sheldon, crying through the piece as they honored their friend. In the days following her death, students placed pink flowers, cards, stuffed animals and seashells in and around her seat in the orchestra room.
On Monday, Maher and several of Julia’s friends wore pink and visited Julia’s grave at Oak Hill Cemetery as they continue to grieve her loss and try to make sense of it.
“Someone told me when you lose someone, you don’t just lose a person, you don’t just grieve that person, you grieve their purpose,” Maher said. “And I think that just stuck with me — you don’t just you don’t just miss that person but you miss their purpose. And that’s why get sad when I hear that oboe because that, to me, was one of her purposes, how I knew her.”
Effect of grief on school communities
It’s hard to predict how the loss of a student will ripple through a school community.
Lakeland psychologist Richard Marshall said the depth of the impact on teachers, staff and students depends on how close they were to the student and/or the event surrounding the death. The psychological toll can also depend on the grieving person’s age and maturity, belief systems, and any pre-existing conditions such as autism, depression or anxiety.
Marshall said elementary-school-aged children are often impacted harder than older students. And, he added, students growing up in neighborhoods where violence and death are common and have suffered previous losses may have different emotional reactions than those who have never known anyone who died.
“These kids, all of them are wondering, ‘Is that going to happen to me?’” Marshall said. “And that’s where the adults have to reassure them that, ‘No, this was unexpected and is not likely to ever happen again.’”
As students cope with losses, it is normal for them to have bouts of sadness and difficulty concentrating. Grieving students may find it hard to think about math, science and other subjects, or perform well on tests.
Marshall said any kind of traumatic event, even those where no one dies, can trigger post-traumatic stress disorder in 15-20% of students.
“Those with preexisting conditions, those with certain family conditions, they will have more trauma, the event will have a more dramatic effect,” Marshall said. “And I think what we have to do is identify those kids who are more at risk and get, get them the services that they need — either through the school or refer them to outside services to get what they need.”
He said the things that teachers and parents should look for are:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- School avoidance and absenteeism
- And a drop in grades.
“Anxiety is easier to see than depression,” Marshall said. “Absentee rates go up, and academic performance goes down.”
PCPS grief counseling protocols
PCPS spokesman Kyle Kennedy said when a traumatic event occurs, the principal reaches out to district staff, who gather information and prepare a response to parents, students, staff and the public.
The “school-based mental health team is notified and works with district-based mental health staff, if needed,” Kennedy said. The “crisis team leader works with (the) principal to develop (a) communication plan for students and families. All families receive information on how to access mental health resources.”
Crisis teams are then sent to the campus to speak with faculty and school staff. Team members can provide individual or group crisis support as needed. In addition, team members can work with school counselors to “triage” students who may need additional support or follow-up. That support might include identifying siblings or other close friends/relatives, who may need additional assistance.
The crisis team leader then meets with district staff to provide an update on the supports that have been provided, and additional supports that may be needed going forward, Kennedy said.
A public plea for road safety
At a December school board meeting, Heid urged people to be extra careful when driving near schools.
“Unfortunately, when you’re in a school district, tragedy will strike from time to time,” Heid said. “Each of us struggles with that and it weighs very heavy on my heart anytime we have a student involved in an accident or a staff member involved in an accident. It happens far too frequently.”
Heid teamed up with Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd with a message for motorists: “Take extra care getting there.”
The pair made a YouTube video, which has been posted on the sheriff’s office and PCPS websites, along with both their social media accounts, to warn drivers to slow down in school zones and be aware of their surroundings at times of the day when children are heading to school or going home in the afternoons.
“In 2022, the sheriff’s office investigated over 100 traffic fatalities,” Judd said. “Of those, 21 victims were pedestrians or cyclists. And so far this year, we’ve already lost more than 20 victims who were walking or riding bikes, and they were hit by vehicles.
The pair have seen a heartbreaking number of children crying at the funerals of their friends, of distraught parents having to bury their child.
Heid added: “Tragically, people are all too often losing their lives and traffic crashes, particularly young students simply traveling to school or making their way home. More heartbreaking is that many of these accidents are absolutely preventable.”
Judd said there is a lot competing for people’s attention, including checking phones or sending or reading text messages.
Heid offered safety tips:
- If you’re walking, always use the sidewalks and crosswalks.
- If you’re driving, buckle up, slow down and yield to pedestrians and bicyclists.
- Obey traffic signals and signs, including the stop signs on school buses when they’re dropping off or picking up our students.
- Drive in school zones and surrounding areas like you would your own neighborhood — slowly.
- Be aware of your surroundings and stay focused on the road.
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It would be interesting to know Barrett’s speed at the time of the crash. I see this stretch of road, passing through a residential neighborhood, has a speed limit of 35 MPH, just like the road in front of my home, which also passes through a residential area. Average speed on our road? 50 MPH. It is the rare driver who observes the limit. Why? Probability of getting caught close to nil.