By Don Rush

“With that the meeting is adjourned.”

After 11 years on the Oxford School Board, Dan D’Alessandro with those six words and the pounding of the president’s gavel ended his school board tenure at the June 27 meeting.

When he stepped down from the board he became the third board member to do so in less than a year. Last September the board’s president, Tom Donnelly and treasurer Korey Bailey resigned. D’Alessandro was soon then elected as board president. His term was to have expired on Dec. 31, 2024. Until the board meets again on July 11 and votes for a new president, Heather Shafer will assume presidential duties. D’Alessandro, 53, has lived in the district for 48 years, he said. He and his wife Annette have two children, Malena and Anthony who both graduated from Oxford High School. In may he announced his retirement as his family is moving out of the district.

Prior to closing his last meeting, during the public comments section a number of residents took their turn at the podium to chastise the board on its handling of the investigation into the Nov. 30, 2021 shooting at Oxford High School. The board hired Guidepost Solutions to investigate what led up to the shooting, what happened on the day of the shooting and the district’s response to the shooting. An initial report from Guidepost about the district’s current safety practices was completed in the spring. A second report with the district’s handling of the incident should come out this fall.

“For a year now we’ve heard, ‘We’re going into closed session,’” one woman said. “We’ve been hearing how Guidepost (Solutions) is waiting for this information or that information. And, I’m really tired hearing that. There is zero reason why it should be taking this long, other than the fact that this board seems to be being led around by legal counsel from somewhere – whether the legal counsel the board hired or the legal counsel of the insurance companies. It does not seem like it is being led by you guys . . . . I am tired of waiting for answers. And, I bet the majority of this community is tired of waiting for answers. I am begging you to stop letting the lawyers lead you around by the drawstrings. You guys have governmental immunity and I am really tired of them getting to hide behind it . . . why can’t you guys stand up to the lawyers and get the answers out to the people who deserve them?”

Another woman said, “ . . . we want to know what you’re hiding.”

A man said it was time to stop “abusing” closed sessions. “Keep your conversations open to the public.” He went on to state the board should lift its “gag order” over former board members Donnelly and Bailey. “You don’t, and you can’t unite under a veil of lies and deceit. You unite under the truth.”

Following the public comment section D’Alessandro had a point of clarification he shared. “I want to address a couple of things. Some folks may believe that when we go into a closed session it is to gain information. Last week, as a couple of people brought up, Tom and Korey asked us to release them from (not discussing) closed session conversations. I will reiterate what I told them last time. I have contacted several lawyers who are not involved in this litigation and asked them for their opinion . . . if they want to be released from (not discussing what went on in) closed sessions, we (the board) can’t grant them that. They know that to have that done they need to petition the judge of this case. That is what I informed them of before. My assumption is that they ran that by the attorney they hired and that that attorney knows that is the way to get this done. However, they are not petitioning the courts. What they do instead is they come up here and call us liars and hiding behind things. We don’t have that ability, even if we wanted to do so, you would have to go to the judge to have them released from those conversations during closed sessions. I don’t know how to explain it so Tom and Korey can understand it, but I guarantee you that their attorney knows that that is the law.”

Vice president Shafer added, “No school board, not this one, not one with seven new board members can do that (release the former board members). They are asking us to do something that we do not have the ability to do.”

D’Alessandro then switched the Guidepost report. “I have spent countless hours over the last four months trying to get that report out, to give families what they deserve. There are things happening with the (Oakland County) prosecutor. There are things they do not want out right now. They have a case they are trying to make against two parents and until that happens . . . the information Guidepost has is under a protective order with the prosecutor. They are working through that and we have had several conversations to get it done quicker and we haven’t got it. That’s the explanation and it’s yours to digest as you see fit. So with that, any final board comments?”

Shafer thanked him for his service and commitment to the district, students and staff. “He has given a lot to this community. He is kind. And, he is truly a Wildcat.”

D’Alessandro was given a plaque. “This will be my last comment as a board member here. It’s been an honor. And, that’s where I’m gonna’ leave it at. This community is a great community. We have a tremendous school district and staff, administrators and more importantly we have tremendous students in this district. My goal has always been to make sure their needs are placed first. I won’t be far away. I will be around. My involvement with Oxford isn’t over. It will just be in a different role.”

And, then he adjourned the meeting.