California teacher commits suicide in classroom, found by students
theGRIO REPORT - On Monday morning, California high school students found a 31-year-old teacher hanging from her classroom ceiling in an apparent suicide.
On Monday morning, California high school students found a 31-year-old teacher hanging from her classroom ceiling in an apparent suicide.
The students had tried to get in the El Dorado High School classroom but found it locked that morning, “and that’s not normal for that hour of the day,” said Placentia police Lt. Eric Point, according to the Orange County Register.
The students found another teacher to unlock the door, and when they entered, the students and teacher found Jillian Jacobson, 31, hanging from the ceiling around 8:40 AM, reports KCAL 9. The other teacher set Jacobson’s body on the floor and remained there until emergency officials arrived.
“When police and fire arrived, the teacher was in cardiac arrest,” Point said. “After several minutes, she was declared deceased at the scene.”
Students and teachers were left in tears at the news. Some students began leaving at 10 AM, and the entire student body was dismissed by 11.
“If you take into account how everyone reacted by crying and being upset, you’ll see how everyone was completely surprised that it was her,” said Leo Amaya, 16, who took Jacobson’s photography class his freshman year. “She gave no signs of being depressed or sad.”
Other students said that Jacobson’s father had committed suicide and that she constantly advised her students against such drastic action.
Freshman students Tessa Hoover and Maddie Bell were in the classroom next door. “We didn’t know what was happening. Our teacher ran out of our class, then into the room next door,” Hoover said. “Then she started screaming.”
“Right away we knew something really horrible had happened,” she added.
Candy Plahy, the assistant superintendent of educational services at Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, said that the school will resume normal hours on Tuesday, with grief counselors available to those who require them.
“Often, having students return to their normal daily routines is the best way to help them cope,” she said. “Going back to school will help restore normalcy.”
She also noted that the students who initially found Jacobson were immediately taken to counselors. It was not clear whether or not those students would be returning to school Tuesday.
