Youth suicide is becoming a vital, compelling issue to citizens, their families, and professional and legislative groups. Although schools are second only to families in responsibility for children's welfare, few schools have formal policies and procedures for preventing student suicide or dealing with its aftereffects. Also, numerous myths abound regarding suicide's etiology and warning signals. This monograph documents the results of a 1986 statewide survey of Texas school superintendents concerning the status of existing school policies and procedures. After reviewing the work of Charlotte Ross, Pamela Cantor, and other suicidologists, the report presents some statistics demonstrating a steady rise in the rate of youth suicide within the last 15 years; the data also shows that between 1970-1980, in Texas, reported suicide rate for 10.1 per 100,000, compared to the national rate of 8.5. Responding superintendents did not consider youth suicide a particularly important topic for inservice education or for school professionals' consideration. As a group, they thought external agencies should take leadership roles in this area. Only 4 out of 356 superintendents said their districts had written policies and procedures addressing the problem. After summarizing recent legislation, the paper urges further state legislative action to develop and implement written school policies. Several recommendations are made concerning this legislation, including provision of a training component for school professionals. In addition to the study instruments, appendixes include exerpts from a 1983 congressional hearing on youth; youth suicide legislation from four states; a resource list; and the relevant sections of the Texas Family Code. Sixty-three references are also included. (MLH)