SANDRA GOMEZ-ACEVES and Jesse Leavenworth of the Hartford Courant
Manchester High School students were allowed to leave early Wednesday after the sudden death of a beloved school security guard.
Barry "Mitch" Mitchell, who died of an apparent heart attack, had worked at the school for 18 years and knew generations of students and their families.
Mitchell was the father of two young children who attended local schools, district communications director Jim Farrell said.
"Over his career," School Superintendent Matt Geary said, "he interacted with literally thousands of students and often had to tell them things that they didn't want to hear – to get back in line in the cafeteria, or to hurry to class, or to show him a hall pass.
