By Dean Vaglia
Leader Staff Writer
Oxford Community Schools (OCS) turned down Attorney General Dana Nessel’s offer to investigate the district’s actions on and before the Nov. 30 shooting.
Originally offering state resources to carry out the district’s plan to conduct a “third-party investigation” as mentioned in a Dec. 4 letter, OCS said on Dec. 6 it would hire a firm to conduct the investigation.
“I am extremely disappointed that the school district chose to decline my offer to devote the full resources of the Department of Attorney General to review the events leading up to and on November 30th,” Nessel said through a Dec. 6 press release. “This tragedy demands a united effort from all of us who serve the Oxford community.”
Despite the district’s decision, Nessel’s statement says her office will continue providing support with the ongoing investigation and plans on meeting with Oxford High School families and faculty to discuss the events surrounding the shooting “when they are ready to share their thoughts.”
Nessel has also indicated to reporters that the Attorney General’s office will perform some kind of investigation, stating on the 7th “What we can’t do is nothing. It’s not appropriate,” reiterating her belief that an investigation would help identify new practices and policies to cut down on violence in schools.
OCS has been criticized for the decision to let the suspected shooter back into class following a meeting with him and his parents, who refused to remove him from class when asked.
“Of course he should not have gone back to that classroom,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said at a Dec. 3 press conference. “I’d be angry too, and I am. But that doesn’t mean that there’s a criminal culpability. But yes, I would be angry. I am angry. I’m angry as the prosecutor, I’m angry as a person that lives in this county. There were a lot of things that could have been so simple to prevent . . . Looking at that drawing, it is impossible to not to conclude that there was a reason to believe he was going to hurt somebody.”