A 15-year-old student died from an possible drowning at the Whiteland Community High School pool Tuesday morning.
Clark-Pleasant Superintendent Patrick Spray released a few more details about the incident at the high school during a press briefing Wednesday afternoon.
He said the student died of an apparent drowning at 11:45 a.m. during physical education class in the pool area. She was allegedly swimming laps with other students during class when she went under the water near the bulkhead that divides the pool from the diving end. There was a lifeguard and a teacher on the pool deck at the time of the incident, Spray said.
The incident is still under investigation by the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, so Spray declined to answer further questions about what happened in the pool area Tuesday. He could not say how long the student was under the water, nor what caused her to go under near the bulkhead.
Clark-Pleasant’s priority right now is to focus on the needs of the student’s family and the school staff and students.
“We grieve with this family as they endure the unimaginable. Our entire school community, and especially our school staff and students are heartbroken,” Spray said. “This young lady was such a beautiful human who loved her family, friends, her community, art, animals and band.”
A close family friend of the student’s family set up a GoFundMe. Her family gave permission for the fundraiser page to be shared, Spray said. The page has raised over $10,000 so far.
The description on the page shares details about the student, and how she loved her community, family, friends, band, and spreading awareness about epilepsy.
“She was a sweet girl with a heart of gold who would help anyone and now her family needs our help,” the GoFundMe page says.
Classes at WCHS were canceled Wednesday, and will resume Thursday, Spray said. Counselors are available to help all students and staff who need help with crisis and grief management.
The pool will also remain closed for the rest of the school year.
This school year has been rough for Clark-Pleasant, Spray said at the end of the press briefing. Many traumatic incidents have affected students, including the shooting of a student at a school bus stop in August last year and the tornado in Whiteland at the end of March.
“It has been an exceptionally rough school year with regards to enormous trauma that we’ve encountered,” Spray said.
