Palo Alto High School junior Julia Curtis published a petition Wednesday requesting that the Palo Alto Unified School District install active suicide prevention at the Churchill Avenue and Alma Street train crossing.
Her petition — with over 3,200 signatures as of Sunday — came following the death of Summer Devi Mehta, who died by suicide due to the Caltrain Tuesday morning.
When Curtis heard the news about Mehta’s suicide, she said she felt saddened and was shocked despite Palo Alto’s “history of teen suicide.”
Ash He, a former Palo Alto High student, died by suicide in March 2025, and Emily Fiedel, a former Gunn High School student, died by suicide in August 2025. In her petition statement, Curtis noted Palo Alto may be experiencing its third “suicide cluster.”
Curtis’ decision to make her Change.org petition was sparked by her desire to prevent Mehta’s death from being “forgotten,” she said.
“In the past, people post on their stories resources and things of that sort, and then in a couple days, it’s forgotten, and nobody is talking about it anymore…,” Curtis said. “I wanted to do something that would last longer, and so I thought, ‘Why don’t I start a position?’”
In Curtis’ petition, she argues for the reinstatement of in-person guards and trained professionals at local Caltrain tracks. According to her petition statement, which lists newly-elected Palo Alto Board of Education President Shounak Dharap and Palo Alto High’s principal Brent Kline as decision makers, guards would act as a safety precaution for the time being. Eventually, though, Curtis advocates for permanent infrastructure, envisioning underpasses and overpasses to separate the tracks from pedestrians.
Similar to the pre-pandemic stationing of police officers assigned to Palo Alto high schools, Curtis explains that this baby step towards de-escalating in-person suicide would not cut into the district’s $354 million adopted budget for the 2025-26 school year, given that police officers monitor in shifts.
Leading up to Mehta’s death, Curtis said the Churchill Avenue Caltrain crossing relied on artificial intelligence and motion detectors to track “suspicious activity.”
“[Detectors] have not been effective in actually doing anything, because even if they detect someone on the train tracks, they can’t stop them, which is the point there,” Curtis said. “When [the tracks] had guards, they were effective in preventing several suicide attempts. Because just having a physical human there is so much more effective at de-escalating the situation, by using physical force, verbal cues or both.”
Curtis began researching effective suicide prevention methods Tuesday evening. Ultimately, she said she found two such methods: mental health support and destruction of lethal means.
“Households with a loaded gun in the house have a much higher likelihood of suicide than houses without one,” she said. “In Palo Alto, that loaded gun is the Caltrain, because it’s so accessible, right next to school, and it’s very effective.”
Asha Patil, a Palo Alto High senior, joined Curtis’ advocacy efforts. Curtis said she and Patil sent an email to Kline, urging him to write a special message recognizing Mehta’s passing.
Through Schoology, Kline released two messages to students — one Tuesday afternoon and one Friday morning. Gunn High School Assistant Principal Erik Olah followed with a statement that acknowledged recent events Friday afternoon.
Curtis said she and Patil were also in contact with Don Austin, the PAUSD superintendent, who on Thursday wrote to Palo Alto’s city council with a proposal: closing the Churchill crossing immediately.
“His message, in my opinion, is a little bit flawed,” Curtis said. “So many students use that crossing to get to school, and cars use it to commute every single day. Closing [it] immediately is definitely not the best course of action. … But [Austin] does agree that until we can get to that point, having guards there is a good idea.”
