A fifth-grade student died after collapsing in the classroom at his Montgomery County public school in Maryland, officials said Tuesday.
School system officials in Montgomery said they do not know the child’s cause of death but said the medical emergency came on suddenly at 9:50 a.m. Monday, not long after classes began at Farmland Elementary School, in the North Bethesda-Rockville area.
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Spokesman Christopher Cram said the boy fell ill in his classroom and was immediately tended by the school nurse, who then called 911.
Other students were escorted out of the classroom while the child was treated for some time by emergency workers but he was unresponsive and taken to a nearby hospital. The boy was pronounced dead at the hospital, according to Cram.
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School system officials said they could not comment on any possible link to the coronavirus because they have no information about what caused the severe distress.
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“We really feel for the family,” Cram said.
Students at the school were not notified of the loss but a letter went out to parents describing the sudden death.
“While we have not shared this loss with any of our students, our school psychologist and counselors along with the district-level staff were onsite and available to support our students who were present when the medical emergency occurred,” Farmland Elementary School Principal April D. Longest wrote in the letter.
“We will continue to have qualified staff onsite to support students and staff as we deal with this loss in the days ahead,” the letter said.
No foul play is suspected, said Officer Casandra Tressler, a Montgomery County Police spokeswoman.
Dan Morse contributed to this story.
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