Steve Lieberman

slieberm@lohud.com

UPPER NYACK – A 15-year-old girl found dead Friday at the Summit school asphyxiated herself, Clarkstown police said.

The Rockland Medical Examiner's Office ruled the girl's death a suicide, Clarkstown Detective Lt. Glenn Dietrich said Tuesday.

The Summit Children's Residence Center on Broadway caters to young people with emotional difficulties. It overlooks the Hudson River and offers education and an open, residential campus for 115 students ages 13 to 21.

The girl's family lives on Long Island, Dietrich said, adding the police will not release her name because of her age and the nature of her death.

"A lot of those students at the Summit school are kids with problems – psychological and with family issues," he said.

The school, like all residential treatment centers, is overseen by the New York state Office of Children and Family Services.

An agency spokeswoman said she couldn't discuss the specifics of the case because of privacy issues concerning the girl. The New York State Justice Center investigates deaths and other serious incidents at a treatment center.

Summit assistant principal Deborah Sherwood said the girl's death is an "unthinkable tragedy" and "our thoughts and prayers are with the family, the friends of the student and our staff."

Sherwood said school social workers and clinical staff are working closely with the students and a bereavement center also is available.

While the school's children have been linked to vandalism and thefts over the years in the greater Nyack community, locals may also recall a violent incident that occurred in October 2002.

A student, Jeremy Gaulin, 15, died two days after being shoved out a second-floor window by his roommate, Ian Sinovoi, 17, of Manhattan. Sinovoi, who suffered primarily from Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison on his plea to second-degree manslaughter; he was paroled in September 2012.

Dietrich said the police have also had occasional reports of runaways from the facility or students that didn't return to campus on time. But he added, "Things have improved ... The staff seems to have a better hold on things."