By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
Staff Writer
OXFORD TWP. — Mary Hanser and Heather Shafer, both of whom were on the Oxford Community Schools Board of Education during the shooting tragedy of 2021 when four students were killed and several others injured, resigned effective June 12, 2024.
An email went out to parents in the community from current board President Dr. Erin Reis informing them of the vacancies and how to apply for the vacant positions.
Hanser has been on the school board since 2018, and Shafer, who was previously board president, was elected in 2016.
The resignations come two days after the Michigan State Board of Education voted to call upon the Michigan Legislature to require and fund a comprehensive independent review of the shooting in response to requests from parents of the students killed.
“Parents of Oxford students who died in this terrible tragedy have made it clear they want an independent state review of the shooting and events before and after,” said state board of education President Dr. Pamela Pugh. “I’m very grateful and thankful we were able to hear from the parents of the victims of Oxford. We owe it to the parents to do what we can to have the mass shooting thoroughly reviewed so that schools can learn from what happened and Oxford parents can get more answers.”
The state board also voted to request that the legislature make previously-approved funding for children’s mental health and school safety for the 2025 fiscal year to become recurring.
“Please take notice that due to the resignation of Mary Hanser and Heather Shafer, effective June 12, 2024, two seats are vacant on the Oxford Board of Education seven-member board,” said Reis in the email to parents. “Information on the process and application materials can be found on the district website.”
Applications can be found at oxfordschools.org, and the application deadline is June 26, 2024. Interviews with qualified candidates will be July 8, 2024.
The partial terms have two different end dates. One term ends on December 31, 2024, while the other term ends until the November 2024 election results are certified. Appointments will begin at the regularly scheduled board meeting on July 9.