A 7-year-old student died suddenly after becoming ill at a city public school on Wednesday.

The child, a first grader at Jackson School in South Philadelphia, experienced a medical emergency and appeared to stop breathing. Classroom staff administered CPR and called 911, and the child was taken to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was pronounced dead.

"It's shocking, and it's tragic, and we extend our deepest sympathies to the family," said School District spokesman Fernando Gallard.

There was no nurse at Jackson at the time the child, whose name was not released, became ill, Gallard said. The school of 450 students has a nurse every Thursday and every other Friday.

Karyn Lynch, deputy chief of student services, emphasized that people trained in CPR and first aid responded to the child as soon as they became aware he was in distress.

"The minute they looked over and saw him, they immediately performed CPR and called 911," Lynch said.

It was not clear whether the child had a preexisting medical condition. School officials cannot discuss students' medical histories.

Asked whether having a nurse in the building would have made a difference in the child's death, Gallard said: "That's a very difficult question to answer, not knowing what occurred. We're not medical experts. There were trained personnel with CPR certification."

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First-grader at Jackson School in South Phila. dies after becoming ill at school