Officials are silent on youth's death

Neither school officials nor the organization that oversees high school sports in New York are commenting on whether St. Regis Falls Central School was violating athletics regulations when a modified baseball player suffered a fatal blow to the head during practice May 4.

Brady L. Frazier, 13, died Saturday at Fletcher Allen Health Care Center in Burlington, Vt. He was admitted to the facility just hours after being struck by a line drive hit by a varsity baseball player.

New York State Public High School Athletic Association rules prohibit modified team players from practicing with or playing against teams not playing at "the same criteria for organization, i.e. age, grade and performance." The association's executive director, Nina VanErk, declined to comment on both the rule and the incident in St. Regis Falls.

"I extend my condolences to the Frazier family and members of the St. Regis Falls school community," she said. "But I don't have specifics as to what happened, and I'm not going to comment."

St. Regis Falls Central School District Superintendent Patricia A. Dovi also declined to give details on the issue.

"At this point, an investigation is ongoing," Ms. Dovi said Monday. "I have no comment until the investigation is completed. We're hoping to have it resolved very quickly, but I'm not going to put a timeline on it. We're moving slowly enough to be thorough and sensitive."

New York State Police Senior Investigator Charles E. Bishop said police will not take the sporting regulations into account as they proceed with their investigation into Frazier's death.

"It's just not our ball of wax," Investigator Bishop said. "It's more of a civil matter."

At this point, police are investigating the incident as an accident, the senior investigator said.

"We didn't find out that there had been a head injury until after the child passed away," he said. "It put us behind the eight ball a little bit, but I guess we also don't want people calling us to investigate every time someone gets hurt playing a sport."

Investigator Bishop said an autopsy was conducted Monday, but results will not be available for some time.

St. Regis Falls Central will close its doors Wednesday to allow staff and students to attend a funeral service for Mr. Frazier.

"The school board met tonight," said District Superintendent Patricia A. Dovi. "We're going to be closed on Wednesday to give the teachers and children time to mourn and deal with the loss of one of our students."

The funeral service is scheduled for 11 a.m. at St. Mary's Church in Brushton.

Students and teachers will attend school as usual today and Ms. Dovi said counselors and clergy will be on campus to continue meeting the needs of the students and staff.

"We're looking at this as a process, not just a day," she said. "We will continue to focus on needs of not just the children, but the adults, as well."

The superintendent said school bus drivers and monitors met prior to the start of the bus runs Monday morning, and teachers, counselors and clergy met before the start of the school day to discuss the situation.