{"id":5756,"date":"2012-03-21T17:33:45","date_gmt":"2012-03-21T21:33:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=5756"},"modified":"2012-12-10T11:56:44","modified_gmt":"2012-12-10T16:56:44","slug":"how-a-miami-high-school-reacted-to-trayvon-martins-public-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2012\/03\/21\/how-a-miami-high-school-reacted-to-trayvon-martins-public-death\/","title":{"rendered":"How Trayvon Martin’s High School Reacted To His Public Death"},"content":{"rendered":"
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_bigm33ch \/ Instagram<\/p>

Students at Krop Senior High in Miami wore hooded sweatshirts to remember slain classmate Trayvon Martin.<\/p><\/div>\n

It’s been nearly a month since self-appointed neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed teen in Sanford, Fla.<\/p>\n

Martin’s death has inspired a national debate about race and justice.<\/p>\n

But at the high school Martin attended in Miami, his death had not been announced publicly until today, when the school held a moment of silence for the slain student.<\/p>\n

Ashley Aristide is a junior at Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High in Miami, where Martin went to school.<\/p>\n

She’s having a hard time coping with her friend’s death.<\/p>\n

“He’s dead and his killer isn’t even arrested, it just doesn’t make sense to me,” Aristide said. “I just really want justice to be served in this case because it’s not fair.”<\/p>\n

But for more than three-weeks, Aristide\u00a0said no one in the school’s administration was talking to students about Martin.<\/p>\n\n

“They didn’t make any announcement or anything.”<\/p>\n

\n

“I think it’s important for us to recognize loss, but I don’t know how fair it is to put that holistic responsibility on schools.”<\/p>\n

-Alison Austin, Belafonte Tacolcy Center<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n

The school didn’t publicly announce Martin’s death until today, and only after StateImpact Florida asked the school district <\/a>about it.<\/p>\n

Update at 10:15 a.m. ET Miami-Dade School District Responds\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

This morning, the chief communications director for the Miami-Dade County school district, John Schuster, said there is a reason the school did not announce Trayvon’s death on campus.<\/p>\n

“Shortly after Trayvon\u2019s death, his parents asked the school\u2019s principal for privacy in the matter,” Schuster said.<\/p>\n

But the school did make an announcement anyway after StateImpact Florida started asking around.<\/p>\n

Schuster said\u00a0crisis counselors usually “move from classroom to classroom, announce [a student’s] death, and offer services to students.” But because he said the family requested privacy, “counselors could not proceed in the usual manner.”<\/p>\n

“As new information has become available regarding the student\u2019s death, counselors continue to be available to address students\u2019 grief, frustration, and anger about the death of their fellow student.”<\/p>\n

Our original post, from 3\/21 at 5:33 p.m. ET<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trayvon Martin was suspended from the school at the time of his death. The school and the teen’s family have refused to comment on the reason for the suspension.\u00a0

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