The state of Michigan has spent over a half billion dollars in the last two years on school safety and mental health resources for students, but most parents still do not feel their children will be safe when they are sent off to school every morning.
Shane Gibson has two daughters in two Oxford elementary schools and even though the district has spent over $2 million dollars since the mass shooting at Oxford High School in November 2021, he still does not feel his children are safe in school.
“In no way, shape or form do I feel my kids are any safer today than they were on the day of the shooting,” said Gibson. “So many people believe it can’t happen in their town and then it does. It is not a matter of ‘if’, it is a matter of ‘when.’ ”
Other parents with children in districts throughout Oakland County remain concerned about safety and security.
“My daughter is an elementary student and the school does not currently have any cameras, or any alarms if there is a live event. The playgrounds are not completely fenced in,” said Troy parent Michele Maleszyk. “I would like to see live cameras linked to the Troy Police Department, being watched in real time. I’m fearful for my daughter’s safety on a daily basis, especially at recess. Anyone can run onto the playground and grab a child.”
In 2022-23 the state budgeted $168 million for school safety and in 2023-24 $328 million was budgeted to improve mental health and improve school safety.
The school budgets provide aid to the state’s 537 local school districts, 295 public school academies, and 56 intermediate school districts.
Funding is dispersed on a per-pupil basis and was estimated to be $109 per pupil for the 2022-23 school year.
The list of allowable expenses includes
coordination with local law enforcement;
training for school staff on threat assessment and crisis communication, and for school staff and students on threat response;
safety infrastructure;
And other safety services or products for building security.
After the Oxford school shooting, which left four students dead and several others and a teacher wounded, the state Legislature created a bipartisan task force to address student safety and school security.
It released a 12-page report in December 2022 after gathering input from concerned parents and residents from over 45 different cities across Michigan. The most frequent suggestion received from parents was to increase security in schools.
Their recommendations included having lockdown kits that include supplies for extended lockdowns; window ladders for rooms on upper levels; all doors should have the ability to lock; cameras in classrooms; reduce barriers for hiring new school counselors and look to attract more people into the mental health field or add it to the scope of practice for medical professionals such as physicians assistants.
In all, the task force recommendations added up to $486 million for programs split between mental health and school security. It is not known whether any of the recommendations have been implemented.
Through May 2, 2023, there were 18 bills proposed in the Legislature aimed at helping districts with safety, including things like gun safety guardian programs.
The Michigan State Police Office of School Safety declined an offer to comment for this story.
But no amount of money or legislation seems to change the minds of parents.
“As safety relates to bullying, I don’t feel my son will be safe once he moves to the .. middle school,” said West Bloomfield mother Kirsten Douglass. “There is a known problem with bullying and fighting and for that reason we are considering other options for middle school.”
Gibson and other parents are also frustrated with vague emails sent from districts announcing threats or incidents in their schools, but no explanations on what occurred or what was done to resolve the problem.
“I come home almost every day and I am reading something from the district in my emails about something that happened in one of my daughters’ schools, but claim that privacy laws prevent them from telling me anything else,” said Gibson. “We have already had six or seven this year alone from each of their schools and it is still September.”
“They don’t tell us if it was a physical incident or a threat that was called in or just something that other kids said to another student or teacher,” said Walled Lake mother Gina Westin. “We go back and ask and get nothing back or find out if anyone got punished.”
Heather Gioia is among the few parents contacted for this story happy to send her three children off to school in the morning.
They go to three different schools in West Bloomfield, including her son, who she moved to the high school from Detroit Country Day last year.
Gioia said she feared for her son’s life after being bullied by several students in the first few weeks of his freshman year.
“Another child was trying to kill my son repeatedly with no support from the other students, the teacher and very little support from the staff,” Gioia explained. “Even after we found out one child was suspended for an undetermined amount of time, other kids were still bothering (her son). We had to pull him out because we really thought he would die there.”
She said West Bloomfield welcomed him with open arms to finish his freshman year last year and began his sophomore year feeling safe and secure.
“Their counselors talked with him and made sure he transferred fine and all the teachers were nice to him and made him feel like they care about him,” she said. ”After such a terrible experience there (at Country Day) and lack of safety, they made sure he had trauma services and people went out of their way to make sure he was safe and healthy and happy.”
Gioia’s two other children are in elementary school and middle school in West Bloomfield and is satisfied with safety measures in place at their schools..
“… we are incredibly happy with our choice to keep them at West Bloomfield,” she said. “They have a great system in place and I feel safe sending all my kids to school in the morning and that they will come back safely.”
Oxford parents remain unconvinced the shooting that changed the community has changed how their administration is seeking to help students.
“The Oxford administration continues to perpetuate the same problematic culture and behavior that contributed to the November 30th shooting,” said Oxford parent Cara Erskine. “”Even with increased resources and modern facilities, if the administration doesn’t change their behavior and communication with the community, safety won’t improve for students and parents.”
“The vast majority of the people I talk with feel the same way. They are scared and they are looking for alternatives,” said Gibson. “Oxford virtual academy is full because parents are opting to keep their kids home because they are scared.”
Renee Upham was a teacher in Oxford in 2021. Her son was in the high school during the shooting.
“It is short-sighted and dangerous to think hard safety measures solve the problem. It merely makes it potentially other people’s problem,” said Upham, who has moved on to teach in another district. “We do not have a working pipeline to immediate mental health services for kids who are showing worrisome behaviors, so they can learn and get help at the same time, somewhere outside the general education environment. Nothing has changed in that regard.”
Even with the millions of dollars being spent around the state for security and mental health support, parents are fearful that districts do not grasp the full scope of the problem.
“I don’t think any parent in any district feels completely safe sending their kids to school in America right now. Safety requires a multi-prong approach and we have access to resources many districts do not,” said Oxford parent Jen Hart. “Parents here feel they need more than words; we need to see it. It will take time, energy and effort, not just money and technology to build that trust back up.”
“Our job as parents and as a community and as a school board is to make these kids safe,” said Gibson. “There is no way these kids are learning effectively when they are scared to death they might get shot.”
