Dear Representative Forestal,

I do not reside in your district or your state but was compelled to reach out to you due to a recent news article that was published here in Houston Texas. The article spoke of a mother by the name of Sanekah Jackson-Jones that does live in your state and your district. Mrs. Jones lost her son Jerrold Parker Jr. to a senseless murder over a twitter remark. Like Mrs. Jones I myself lost a son, not to murder but to suicide. I’m not sure if you have children but if you do losing one no matter the circumstances is horribly traumatic and haunts you always.

Jerrold was a senior at Pike high school and like my son was on track to graduate. Unfortunately they were both taken before that joyous day. It was reported that Jerrold was not going to receive his diploma although he had met all requirements to graduate. I reached out to Mrs. Jones to inquire as to what the reasoning was behind the school’s decision to not issue a diploma to her deceased son. No valid reason could be given, the school recognized Jerrold with a moment of silence and gave Mrs. Jones flowers but in my opinion this does not suffice. This was the same response that was given to me and my wife. We settled for nothing less than for our son to receive his diploma and took House Bill 1563, Jennifer’s Law to the school board and the ruling was promptly reversed. My wife walked the stage for our son and we proudly display his diploma on the mantel in our home.

I’m asking that you propose a bill similar to House Bill 1563 Jennifer’s Law that was passed in Texas on 6/15/2007. The bill states that on request of the student’s parent, a school district shall issue a high school diploma posthumously to each student who died while enrolled in the district at grade level 12, provided that the student was academically on track at the time of death to receive a diploma at the end of the school year in which the student died. For clarity, “school year” includes any summer session following the spring semester. I would also like to propose that this Indiana house bill be known to all as Jerrold’s Law.

Sincerely, 

 Jacob R. Upchurch