Findings of a literature review of school policies and procedures for school-based responses to death-related crises are presented in this paper. A rationale and guidelines for policy development and examples of practices for dealing with death-related incidents--such as suicide, homicide, drug overdose, and accidents--are described. Following an overview of the status of school-based practices, the conclusion is made that no scientific study has attempted to assess either the extent to which schools have established death-related crisis response policies or the effectiveness of alternative response practices. (25 references) (LMI)