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Parents address safety concerns at Oxford school board meeting

Posted at 11:48 PM, Mar 14, 2022
and last updated 2022-03-14 23:50:32-04

OXFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Oxford Community Schools leaders met with the public Monday night to discuss security concerns.

Some families say their children continue to feel uneasy going to school following the Nov. 30 deadly shooting at Oxford High School.

A parent of one of the students killed attended the meeting at Oxford Middle School. He asked the school board to consider adding pictures of the victims to the permanent memorial that is currently being discussed.

A school leader mentioned in a previous meeting that this could me triggering for students.

“Is a picture of my daughter really a trigger?” Steve St. Juliana, the father of 14-year-old victim Hana, asked. “There's so many potential triggers that exist in the school right now like we just heard the presentation about the security measures, having armed officers walking around the school.”

He is asking the board to consider a poll, asking the student body and families what they want.

The father, who has another daughter at the high school, also wants answers about the third-party investigation.

“Why are you waiting for the criminal investigation to end?” he asked the board.

He says he doesn’t understand why the district turned down the third-party investigation, especially from Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office.

“Her offer was to look and see where did the system break down, what happened, what went wrong, which should be the focus of this investigation,” St. Juliana said.

Related: Oxford parents express concerns over school security

He’s not the only father with this question.

"The other issue is the third-party review. We've heard a lot of, I think, conflicting information from one meeting to the next," father George Stoffan said.

Stoffan also wants clarity on how the school is protecting his two students.

“My daughter doesn’t see very many at this point. The main issue for her is she is scared. She thinks this can happen again. And she is always looking over her shoulder,” Stoffan said.

Madeline, a freshman at the high school says she feels stuck in the events that happened on Nov. 31.

“But the real question I always ask myself is: Is it really over? If it is over then why and I still thinking it will happen again? I’m stuck, why am I still stuck?” Madeline said.

To see more of what was discussed Monday night, view the meeting's agenda online.