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In the Special Education District of Lake County, Ill., an emotional two-year discussion ended this summer when officials agreed to honor "do not resuscitate" directives for students. Now, district officials find themselves in the unusual position of having planned the steps its staff will, or won't, take to permit a child to die on school grounds. Although such orders are common in hospitals and nursing homes, they are rare in schools, where officials realize how sensitive and traumatic the situation could be for nurses, teachers and students. In Chicago Public Schools, the policy, barring a court order, is to ignore such orders and do everything possible to save a child's life.
