Parent praises district crisis response after Oak Crest freshman dies by suicide

A Mays Landing resident told the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District Board of Education that an Oak Crest High School freshman, identified as Anish, died by suicide on June 4 and praised school staff for the district's crisis response.

"My heart is broken for him, for his family, and for this entire community that has been affected," Christine Miller said during the meeting's public comment period. She said district counselors and administrators were on site June 4 and in the days afterward to support students and staff.

Miller urged the board to sustain social-emotional learning and adult-student connections across the district. "A policy is only a policy without character. I challenge the board and the staff of Greater Egg Harbor to never stop putting social emotional learning in their curriculum," she said. She also thanked "Mr. Reyna, Mr. Manning, and all of the counselors, teachers, and staff" for their work.

Miller disputed social-media allegations about students who attended the June 6 funeral and then dined together afterward. "I was one of the parents there," she said, and added that "those allegations did prove to be, not correct. ... That restaurant was tipped. They were paid." She told the board nearly 40 teenagers gathered at her home the night of June 4 and that many said school personnel reached out to them.

The board read a resolution invoking the Open Public Meetings Act and identifying attorney-client privilege and a student matter as subjects for a closed session. A motion "to go into executive session" was made and seconded; the transcript ends before the meeting record shows whether the board entered executive session or any formal public action followed.

No formal policy changes or votes related to the student matter were recorded in the public portion of the transcript. Miller's remarks were the only public comment on the matter captured in the available record.