SOUTH HADLEY - Town leaders hope to extend suicide prevention training that local schools have been receiving since January to the community at large.

At their regular meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Town Hall, Selectboard members will be asked to endorse a proposal from the South Hadley Community Coalition to Prevent Suicide to offer free training sessions on Sept. 18 and 20 to interested local residents. The coalition was formed following the death of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince, a South Hadley High School student who hanged herself after being bullied by classmates - some of whom are now facing criminal charges.

Led by a team of mental health professionals from the Behavioral Health Network of Springfield, Riverside Community Care of Dedham and the state Department of Public Health, the two-hour training sessions focus on the important role that average citizens can play in responding to someone who may be considering suicide. Through discussions, video presentations and interactive activities, participants learn how to identify warning signs, ask the right questions, persuade the person to get help and refer them to appropriate care and treatment.

Selectboard Vice Chairman Robert Judge, a member of the community coalition's steering committee, noted that the mental health team has been providing similar suicide prevention assistance to South Hadley public school students for the past six months.

"There hasn't been enough publicity about the fact that South Hadley has been receiving these services," Judge said. "These human service providers get funds and are supposed to reach out to communities. We never even had to make that first call - they called us. Now, we hope to offer this training to the community."

Talking about suicide with a friend or family member may seem risky, said Jim McCauley, director of Youth and Family Services for Riverside Community Care, because people might "worry that if they ask about suicide, they will be planting the idea. On the contrary, we know that when people contemplating suicide are asked directly about it, they feel relieved and understood."

Space for the free workshops is limited, so preregistration is required. Trainings will be offered in the Town Hall Auditorium on Main Street from 10 a.m. to noon on Sept. 18, and 7 to 9 p.m. on Sept. 20. Interested residents can register by calling the Selectboard office at 538-5017 or emailing SHPreventSuicide@gmail.com. A certification of attendance will be provided for those who complete the training.

Other items on the Selectboard's agenda for Tuesday include:

 · Discussion of a proposal to move to a "pay as you throw" billing system for trash collection. Under that system, residents pay for the cost of garbage bags used for curbside pickup by the town. Currently, South Hadley residents pay a trash collection fee based on the number of people per household, as reported in the latest Census.

 · Finalizing the warrant for a special Town Meeting scheduled for Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall Auditorium to consider transferring town ownership of a duplex on School Street to the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission for redevelopment as affordable housing.