Oxford parents plead with school board to make sure their children are safe

Brian Cooper sat quietly in the middle of Oxford Middle School's common area, watching and listening to the school board discuss all it was doing in reaction to a shooting that killed four students two weeks earlier at the district's high school.

Then, about 90 minutes in, it was his turn to talk. The parent of fourth graders, a seventh grader, a ninth grader and 10th grader in Oxford Community Schools urged the school board to be more transparent and to communicate better. He said the community needs to be involved in the response and any plans.

Then, as a light flashed to show his speaking time was up, he added one more piece of advice: "Don't tell me I have to trust anyone. You have to earn my trust back."

Cooper was among about 70 parents and community members to attend the meeting. It was the first public school board meeting since the Nov. 30 shooting.

The crowd, distanced out due to COVID-19 protocols, was quiet and somber. The meeting began with the board president reading the names of the four students killed.

Then the room was silent in their memory.

A few minutes before the meeting started, school officials, including Superintendent Tim Throne, faced the media for the first time since the shooting. Throne's voice was quiet as he began.

"We have been shaken to our core."

Just 5 minutes: A gunman turned a normal day at Oxford High into a nightmare

Parents were emotional in their comments to their board, pleading with members to regain the trust of the community. They asked the board to get life back to normal.

"Every day we live in fear, (the shooter) wins," Anna Sommer, the parent of elementary and middle school students, said. "To live in fear is no way to live. Our children need to get back to their normal routines. That is how we remain Oxford strong."

Another parent detailed the impact the shooting has had on his children.

Shane Gibson said his daughter asked him the other day as she got ready for school if she was going to die. "My heart absolutely broke," said Gibson. "My daughter, my son, are going to live with this the rest of their lives."

He also wondered about the future.

"What are we going to do to make sure there's not another loss — the loss of their education?"

Several other parents pointed out how the school has cracked down on students not wearing masks, in contrast to what they believe was not acting swiftly enough to stop a troubled teen from killing.

The board didn't respond to any of the comments.

More: Parents of Oxford school shooting suspect get new bond hearing

Earlier in the meeting, the board approved starting a process to hire a third-party firm to review the school's actions before and after the shooting. They also detailed security plans, including having students carry clear backpacks and not allowing locker use.

Throne did not speak Tuesday night to details of what happened inside the high school that day, but did announce classes won't reopen as soon as school officials had hoped.

In a meeting earlier Tuesday at the high school, officials decided they likely wouldn't be able to meet an internal goal of reopening the high school when students are slated to come off the holiday break early in January.

More: When Oxford High students return, at least 50 support dogs will greet them

The high school has been closed since the shooting that killed four students and wounded six others and a teacher. School officials had described the scene inside the school as a "war zone."

"Our main focus, besides sharing in this grieving process, has been on reopening of our schools," Throne said.

Throne also said the school district has been working to turn over all files and information to police and prosecutors.

He didn't answer a question about why the teen charged in the shootings, Ethan Crumbley, was permitted to return to class after teachers reported troubling behavior and a meeting was held with his parents.

Tuesday night was also the first time the board had met since the family of 17-year-old Riley Franz filed a lawsuit in federal and state courts against the district, alleging that district officials could have done more to prevent the attack.

Teachers spotted Crumbley viewing images of ammunition on his cellphone and spotted a gruesome drawing depicting gun violence, according to prosecutors.

More: Oxford superintendent: High school won't open as soon as we'd like

Counselors spoke to Crumbley the day before and the day of the shootings. School officials have said very little publicly about the rationale behind returning him to class. His parents resisted taking him away from school the day of the shootings, prosecutors said.

Throne has said that Crumbley did not have a disciplinary record and counselors did not believe he posed a risk to himself or others when they released him.

David Jesse is a 2020-21 Spencer Education Reporting Fellow at Columbia University and the 2018 Education Writer Association's best education reporter. Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterdavidj. Subscribe to the Detroit Free Press.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Oxford parents plead with board to make sure their students are safe