A neighborhood's reaction to the announcement of a school closing involves the five progressive stages Elisabeth Kubler-Ross describes as inevitable for one's reaction to the death of a friend or relative. (DCS)

When Issaquah (Washington) superintendent, after battling a brain tumor, entered the hospital for the last time, school district had to develop a crisis plan to deal with the possible death of the superintendent. A contingency planning team developed a telephone tree for school officials to keep in close contact with teachers and administrators.…

The premise that institutions pass through a grief process in adjusting to declining resources and radical changes, is proposed. In addition, strategies that administrators can use to respond to institutional grief are suggested. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's paradigm of five grief stages/reactions to serious loss are described: denial, anger,…