SWANSEA, S.C. — Loved ones lost too soon will now be remembered in Lexington School District Four.
There's a new way of honoring them if they attended, taught or worked in the district, which includes the Gaston, Swansea areas.
District board members created a committee about a year ago to come up with a set of guidelines, a formal policy for remembering these individuals.
This week that policy was announced.
"They wanted to do it in a consistent manner, in a way that would respect the family's privacy and their wishes to do something to memorialize their student or their family member that has been lost," said Lisa Ingram, Lexington 4 community relations coordinator.
Scholarships and endowment memorials are also possible.
It's all free of cost to families, with the money for the name plate, engraving, plaque or brick coming from the district's general fund.
Over the course of the next few years, other schools across the district will have a memorial like this one at Swansea high school.
"We wanted to have something that was permanent. For example, this plaque that we have back here, that we can add to, we know this is something that's always going to be here, it'll withstand any type of construction that takes place, any improvements that we make to our facilities over the years," Ingram said.
Community members tell me they appreciate the district's new effort.
"Students pass away and they need to be recognized and teachers that pass away need to be recognized for what they've contributed to the neighborhood, to the community," Roy Beck, Gaston resident said.
Students or staff who've died before this policy enactment are also eligible to be memorialized.
In the memorial request form, you can add the individual's name, their school affiliation and any other pertinent information.
Once submitted, it will go through a review process by board members before being accepted or declined.
You can find and fill out the form here if you are a family member or family representative of the deceased individual.