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Family and classmates urge stronger mental‑health response after West Allis Central student's death
Summary
Two public commenters told the West Allis‑West Milwaukee School Board that the district and police failed to communicate fully during a 26‑day missing‑person period that ended in the death of a senior, and urged more proactive mental‑health education, clearer communications, and better use of community resources.
Anne Marie Dalberg, who identified herself as the legal guardian of a West Allis Central senior who went missing for 26 days and later died, told the school board the district, the school resource officer and local police appeared unaware of key mental‑health resources while her nephew was missing. "He was missing for 26 days. He took his life 2 weeks ago today," Dalberg said, and urged the board to be proactive about mental‑health education and communication rather than reactive.
A second speaker, introduced by the board as Ms. Elgetti, said her daughter and classmates created flyers about the missing student that were removed by school administrators and questioned why students were not told the classmate was missing. "Sage's name deserves to be spoken," she said, criticizing an email the school later sent about the student's death for being "brief, impersonal, and [not] even mention[ing] his name."
Why it matters: speakers tied gaps in campus communication and response to broader mental‑health needs among adolescents and urged the district to strengthen prevention, postvention and student supports so other families do not experience similar losses.
What they asked the board to do: Dalberg and Elgetti asked the board to increase district‑wide mental‑health education, ensure school staff and the school resource officer know and can use local crisis resources, allow reasonable student‑led notification when appropriate, and improve transparency to families and students following critical incidents.
District response and context: the board did not take action during the public‑comment period. Superintendent Dr. Robinson led the meeting's earlier recognitions and later presented safety and student‑services updates (including the pending replacement of the director of student services). No district official offered a formal substantive response to the speakers' specific allegations during the public‑comment segment recorded in the transcript.
Next steps: the speakers asked for follow‑up from the superintendent at the next regular board meeting. The board’s agenda that night included a detailed safety update and a later executive session to review written evaluations of drills; the transcript shows the board planned to continue work on safety and student services in coming months.
