******************************
Counselors will be on hand today at a Colony elementary school where a 9-year-old student died after apparently hanging himself in a bathroom.
A staff member at the school found Montana Lance of the Colony unconscious about 1 p.m. Thursday in the nurse's bathroom at Stewart’s Creek Elementary. No students saw the boy, school district spokeswoman Karen Permetti said.
Montana was taken to Baylor Medical Center at Carrollton, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
This morning, many parents dropping their children off at the school, in the 4400 block of Augusta Drive near North Colony Boulevard and Main Street, were unaware of the death.
Stephanie Rodriguez said a PTA meeting was canceled last night without explanation. She said the fourth-grader's death was hard to fathom.
"It's very sad," she said. "I just can't imagine why this happened."
Rodriguez, the PTA treasurer, said her 9-year-old son was so troubled by the incident that he had to sleep with her last night.
Permetti said a letter would be sent to parents today informing them of the death.
"This family is in our thoughts and prayers at this time with their grief," she said.
Students, parents and staff members at the school will have the chance to speak to grief counselors today and throughout next week.
Permetti said she was unaware whether Montana was a victim of bullying.
"Our district is extremely proactive in any bullying activity," she said. "We just don't tolerate that."
