UPDATE (September 15, 2 PM): We will be transitioning our Virtual Counseling Support for students, family, community & staff in response to the tragic passing of Ayshawn Davis to individual appointments on an as needed basis. Students and families can find direct contact information for the district's counseling staff here. Please contact a counselor listed for your school if you or someone you care about is experiencing distress or just needs to talk.

September 14, 2020

Please see the statement below from Lansingburgh Superintendent, Dr. Antonio Abitabile, about the tragic passing of one of our students, Ayshawn Davis.  

You can find information about the Community Hospice of Rensselaer County's Grief & Loss Counseling on our Community Resources Page here, which are free of charge and are available to everyone. Additionally, below are a number of resources that may help you talk with your children about death and community violence. 

• Talking About Death & Dying with Your Kids
• 8 Ways Parents and Caregivers Can Support Children Healing From Trauma
• 10 Ways to Help a Grieving Child
• Coping With Grief After Community Violence
• Explaining Homicide To Children

Dr. Abitabile's statement below is being emailed to Lansingburgh families and staff at 11 AM today. You can also find a PDF of Dr. Abitabile's statement here. 

Lansingburgh School Community,

It is with great sadness that I need to inform all of you that one of our students has passed away as a result of injuries sustained from a gunshot wound late last night. Ayshawn Davis was a 6th grade student at Knickerbacker Middle School. Ayshawn has two siblings who attend the high school, Tarence and Tahniya, one at the middle school, Tyeshawn, and another who graduated from Lansingburgh last year, Jayvon Alston.

I wanted to make sure you were aware of this tragic news so that you have a chance to speak with your children about it if you wish. It is possible your child will hear about Ayshawn’s passing from others and talking with them will be the best way to know how this is affecting them. Please know our school counseling team is ready and available for any student who needs their support.

We are working now to create a schedule of virtual office hours so that our counseling staff will be available to anyone who is showing signs of distress. Once completed, we will share out the schedule with faculty and staff, who can distribute it as needed throughout our school community.

Out of respect for Ayshawn’s family, they have requested that they not be contacted at this time. As funeral arrangements become available, we will post them on our website.

Respectfully,

Dr. Antonio W. Abitabile, Ed. D.
LCSD Superintendent