My name is Hannah Mast, I am a student in the NC Randolph County Public Schools System. My father died suddenly on March 24, 2022, and I have been struggling with the grief of his death. I have had to sort through my father's affairs while being a full time student at the early college program offered in my county. I have thoroughly researched the policies and procedures of my county concerning the death of a loved one and the only policy I could find was about absences; a students absences are excused when grieving for a dead loved one. The incident that prompted this research was my psychology teacher telling me 3 days after my dad died that I still needed to complete my discussion forum that night or the grade would be a 0. I pride myself on my academics and my want for knowledge, but I have just had a major life event happen that has made it incredibly difficult for me to focus on my academics. When taking a further look into this issue, I came across an article on the National Education Association webpage which stated that 1 in 14 children lose a parent before the age of 18; this number has increased due to the pandemic. If this happens to me, it happens to other students. If it happens in my county, it happens in others. If it happens in this state, it happens in yours. I had ignorantly assumed before that there would, of course, be policies concerning the death of a loved one, perhaps an organization that could provide support for students and policies regarding what is appropriate for teachers and students to expect from someone who has just lost a loved one; there isn't. This kind of grief could potentially ruin a students academic career, and it is completely unempathetic and wrong of a school to simply allow that to happen. I highly suggest emailing your superintendent or the board of education themselves to start making a change; they need to understand their is an issue and a want for change. We need to raise awareness for this issue because if we don't, who will?