Parents demanding more

By Don Rush

By the end of the Aug. 8 regular Oxford school board meeting there was a definite difference of opinion on what the district has done since the tragic shooting on Nov. 30, 2021 where four students lost their lives.

School Board President Heather Shaffer, started the meeting by reading a statement in regards to the Miller hearing for the confessed killer of students Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Justin Shilling, and Hana St. Juliana. “As a school board, we would like to take a moment to acknowledge the recent Miller hearings which have so deeply affected our families and staff. Our community has been through so much over the last 20 months, from the tragedy began through the arduous journey of grief and recovery ever since. The Miller hearings that started on July 27 have been difficult to say the least as we have all learned of new evidence and details. We want to take a moment to recognize the incredible courage of our students and our staff who testified at the hearing and all those who have been impacted by those court proceedings. So many people showed extraordinary bravery and heroism during and after November 30the as they endured the unimaginable. Our incredible community partners deserve such gratitude for their constant support and care for all of us in our school community . . .”

After approving minutes, new hires for the district, Executive Vice President at the firm Guidepost Solutions Bradley Dizik updated the board and community on the group’s second and final report into the shooting, which had also wounded six other students and one teacher. The first report released earlier in the year concerned what the district has done since the shooting in regards to threat and suicide assessments and security procedures, and Guidepost’s recommendations for the district. The final report will detail what happened leading up to and the day of the shooting.

“We are in the nine inning of the investigation and our work is focused on writing the investigative reports,” he said. “As was indicated at the end of June we still expect to produce the final report in the fall. The report will not be released prior to the start of the school year, but rather after the school year begins this fall. We do not have an exact time or dates at this time. The board will receive the report when it is made public at the same time as everyone else. To ensure the district has adequate resources in place for the impact the report will have on the victims and their families, and the community, we will give indication a few weeks in advance that the report is imminent.

“Recently we were able to meet with both the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office and the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. Each provided us additional information critical to our reports. As recently as last week, the district provided us with additional materials critical to our reports. We watched the Miller hearing which covered materials critical to our reports. We even recently interviewed additional witnesses who at this late hour decided to come forward and meet with us . . . we cannot discuss which materials we’ve received or reviewed or witnesses we have interviewed. At this time we believe we have received from the district all materials we have asked for or we have been told by the district that materials we asked for do not exist. We may have additional requests as we finalize the investigative report . . . we are taking the time that we believe we need to do a thorough, complete and professional investigation that covers many areas of concern to the board, the victims and their families and the community.”

He added any delays were not caused by county officials, rather from the school district’s attorneys, “that we believe are due to ongoing litigation against the district.”

He said he believes the report will be completed in “the next few weeks.”

After his update, School Superintendent Dr. Vickie Markavitch wanted clarification as had been claimed by some in the public, that Guidepost would release two reports – one for the public and one which would remain “secret.”

“I don’t want that conclusion to sit out there if it is not accurate,” she said.

“There will only be one report,” Dizik quickly responded.

She added she would like the statements to be put in writing and given to her within a week’s time.

After his update about a dozen members of the community stood up to address the board.

“I’m kind of baffled,” Bobby Roop said. “I have been watching these meetings for a while. I watched a couple of weeks ago and seeing the way you guys are operating and treating even other board members, where is the unity? I said a month ago, you cannot unite under a veil of lies. You unite under the truth and you guys have the opportunity to do that. Let’s not be status quo anymore. Step up, speak up . . . I hate to see you guys continue to get bashed. You can change it. For almost a year now, over 600 days now, people have been begging and pleading for you guys to do something. What are you actually doing?”

Outspoken critic of the board, Andrea Jones said, “I’ve watched these families suffer. I’ve watched my family suffer . . . the board, from the very beginning, set the tone. So you guys are responsible for the energy that is out here . . . every week it’s less and less trust with all of your actions, all of your inactions, with all your gumption and audacity. The audacity that we don’t have the right to ask you questions. How dare we question you . . . where is your integrity, because you continued to choose betrayal over courage . . . you don’t need to do what this lawyer tells you to. If you have a lawyer that does not match your integrity level, you’re the client. Get a new lawyer . . . we are going to keep coming for you. We are not going away.”

Buck Myre, whose son Tate was one of those lost that day in November, 2021, criticized the district’s attorney, Tim Mullins as a win-at-all cost “rotten human being.” He questioned the narrative the board has been given by their attorney that lawsuits against the district are just about “the money.”

“You can see what we are doing,” Myre said, referencing the 42 Strong Foundation, created in Tate’s honor. “It has nothing to do about money. For us, it is about accountability and systematic change. That’s it. I don’t need the money. We’re fine.”

He then spoke about the Miller hearing and watching the video from inside the high school during the shooting. “We weren’t going to watch it. But, we did. We were forced to watch it, because we don’t have one answer for that day. You guys made us watch it . . . We watched it and we can never unwatch it.

“One positive that came out of the Miller hearing for us was we got to hear the story of Tate’s final moments. We knew Kristy (vice principal Kristy Gibson-Marshall) was with him, but she didn’t share any details with us because we probably weren’t ready to hear it anyways. And as crazy as it may sound, but you guys aren’t in these shoes, it was glorious to hear it. Like, Tate had a pulse. He heard her. He didn’t die alone. And, it took us one year and nine months to hear that. We hadn’t even started our healing because all we wanted to know what was Tate Myre’s last day on Earth looked like. I’m not just talking about the shooting. I want to hear the whole story. We want to know his interactions with his teachers, his peers. We want to know everything about that day . . . Tate’s story is our story . . . quit denying us the right to hear the story of Tate Myre’s final day.”

Others also criticized the board’s accountability.

“You’ve lost all credibility. We have no trust in you. The administration that was in charge on November 30^th failed at every level.”

Terms like “gross negligence,” “blood on your hands,” “you’re pawns,” were levied at the board.

“It’s been 616 days since Oxford has been crying out for accountability, transparency and genuine action from this board . . . our hopes have been shattered and we are deeply disappointed by your failure to act . . . You can either join or resign.”

When public comments ended Dr. Markavitch took a moment to respond.

“With all due respect and empathy. I absolutely believe in the freedom of speech, I believe everybody has the right to their own thinking,” she said. “I simply cannot listen to ‘there’s been no change.’ I know you don’t watch every board meeting. And I Know you don’t watch every report that comes before the board. But, during the course of just the six months I have been here . . . we have changed all sorts of things. We have changed our entire system, policy, practice, forms, the collection of data, the review of data, the monitoring of data – all around threat assessments, we have trained groups of people. We have now trained our in-house trainers so that we can now train even more people on what to be aware of. How to process what might be a real threat, what do you do when you see one. Hundreds of people here in this district are now trained. And, we will continue that training . . . We have new video and online training components that they will be required to take. We have done the same thing around bullying, because we know it’s a disciplinary issue . . . we’ve done the same thing around suicide protocols, suicide awareness. We’ve hired additional family school liaison people and additional school counselors. We’ve hired additional school psychologists. Our mental health budget has expanded significantly.

“I now have in my office every threat and suicide assessment that was done since September of this year. Because we looked at all of them. And, we looked where they were completed properly and where did we have to train staff to complete them better. We have safety and threat assessment meetings scheduled in every building going forward next year every month . . . All this has been reported to this board for the six months I’ve been here . . . even outside people are coming in and looking at our system and saying ‘you are well above the curve in terms of where you are with safety, security and mental health.’ It’s just not true that nothing’s been done. It is not true . . . I just need to set the record straight in terms of what I am seeing.”