During the School Committee’s budget meeting Monday night, Mayor Ted Bettencourt started the meeting with a moment of silence for the death of an eighth grade student.
“Our community has suffered a heartbreaking tragedy (with) the sudden passing of an… eighth grader in our city. I’d like (us) to all keep him, his family and the whole community in your thoughts. More so now than ever, our community needs to come together. We have a lot of work to do, certainly, together. That’s the only way it’s going to work,” Bettencourt said.
Dr. Josh Vadala added that additional resources will be available for the students.
“As a father of a 14-year-old eighth-grade student, this hits home pretty hard. I want to really thank our staff for coming together today. I spent a lot of time today at the Higgins Middle School, and our staff did a really good job,” he said. “This is very difficult. Our heart goes out to the family and to our entire community.”
Vadala also thanked NEMLEC STARS (Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council’s School Threat Assessment and Response System) and the community school resource officers who brought comfort dogs to the school Monday.
“We have a lot of work moving forward, as the mayor said, and we’re committed to doing so. We’re committed to bringing the community together,” he said.
Starting Monday, grief counselors were available at all of the schools for students and staff.
