Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2005 | 11:03 a.m.
A popular Green Valley High School history teacher attempted suicide Monday in a classroom minutes before the start of the school day, leaving students and colleagues shocked and distraught, school officials said.
The teacher, identified by students as 34-year-old Howard Wade Bycroft, was discovered at 6:47 a.m. suffering from a self-inflicted stab wound to his abdomen, said Darnell Couthen, spokesman for Clark County School District Police. Another teacher found Bycroft in the classroom, Couthen said.
Bycroft was taken to University Medical Center where he was listed in fair condition this morning following surgery. A former attorney who was hired by the district in August 2001, Bycroft unsuccessfully challenged Bob Beers the following year for the Assembly District 4 seat. He was in his third year teaching at Green Valley High School.
The evidence in the classroom indicated Bycroft had attempted suicide, Couthen said. He declined to say whether or not a weapon had been recovered or if Bycroft had left a note.
A district official said Bycroft was HIV positive. Because of the excessive blood at the scene, furnishings inside the classroom are being removed and replaced, the official said.
The classroom was processed and cleaned by police in accordance with the district's exposure control plan, which calls for treating all human blood and body fluids as potentially infectious, Couthen said.
Other sources familiar with Bycroft said his long-term personal relationship had recently ended, and as a result, Bycroft had apparently been living out of his classroom. Administrators had recently learned that he had been staying overnight at the school and were preparing to tell Bycroft that he could not continue to do so, sources said.
Bycroft is well-liked by his students and serves as advisor to Green Valley High School's Gay, Straight, Lesbian Pride Alliance. A graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Bycroft earned his law degree in 1997 from the University of Tulsa.
Several former students praised Bycroft on Monday, saying he always makes himself available to students who need guidance or additional academic tutoring.
"He is the finest teacher I ever had," said Thomas Keeley, a 17-year-old junior who took Bycroft's advance placement history course last year.
Bycroft is also known by his students as being an independent, non-conformist teacher who sometimes does whimsical things.
For example, last year, during Green Valley High School's annual "pajama day" -- the day where students and faculty are allowed to wear pajamas -- Bycroft came to school wearing footed pajamas, Keeley fondly remembered.
"He isn't afraid of to be controversial and did not fit easily into the typical teacher role," Keeley said.
Another student, Blair Peterson, also praised Bycroft, saying the teacher often took time out of his own schedule to meet and help students on a one-on-one basis.
Last year, the 16-year-old Peterson considered attending Stanford University in California but was concerned that her academic record wasn't quite up to the university's standards. She went to Bycroft, who helped counsel her and offered his classroom for her to study in during her lunch break.
"He isn't afraid to get close to students," she said. "He was always available, after school or before school, if you need help."
Marc Ryan, 17, said he was surprised when he heard that Bycroft had allegedly attempted suicide, as he was a "very enthusiastic" teacher.
Ryan, who took Bycroft's history class last year, said he remembered only one incident when Bycroft said he was depressed: When Bycroft told his students that his father was going to have heart surgery.
Students arriving for Bycroft's Advanced Placement history class Monday were redirected to another classroom, where a counselor waited for them. Students said they were told only that a "medical emergency" had occurred. One student said she was shocked that the classroom Bycroft had apparently loved had become the setting for such a tragic scene.
Carlos Brandenburg, administrator of the Nevada Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services, said that in many cases people who attempt suicide are ambivalent and choose a method and venue that leaves room for intervention,
"Anytime someone attempts suicide it's serious, but there's a message in the teacher's choice of location," Brandenburg said. "He knew the schedule of certain staff members, he knew there was a chance he would be found, making his actions a cry for help."
The locale and his position of authority may also amplify the emotional trauma for Bycroft's students, Brandenburg said.
"If someone they admire, a teacher they view as having the abilities to cope with day-to-day stress attempts suicide, they may question how they themselves as students can be expected to cope," Brandenburg said. "They are more vulnerable now than ever."
Jeff Horn, principal of Green Valley High School, said the district's crisis response team was on campus Monday and would return this week.
"When something traumatic occurs our priority is providing emotional support to our students, teachers and staff," Horn said. "We're all struggling at this point to understand and deal with what happened."
Green Valley High School remained open on Monday, and while the incident unsettled and disturbed some students and teachers, the attempted suicide did not greatly impact the functioning of the school.
Yellow police safety tape closed off the section of classrooms where Bycroft was found, and eight classes needed to be relocated to alternate classrooms throughout the school, Horn said.
He said the classes near Bycroft's were relocated to the school's lecture room and the back of the theater.
Two students interviewed Monday afternoon, Martha Peza, 17, and Daniel Coronado, 15, both had attended a foreign-language class next door to Bycroft's and said they were moved to a spare classroom after their teacher told them that there was a medical emergency.
One teacher, who declined to be identified, said on Monday that she was stunned by the news about Bycroft.
"He's a great teacher," she said. "His students' successes were his successes."
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