Parents, Students, ex-Board Members Charge Missteps Made
In Oxford, Michigan, the school district has been named in a lawsuit filed by a student-parent group, alleging that the district failed to follow safety protocols prior to the tragic November 2021 Oxford High School shooting.
The plaintiff in the lawsuit, Change4Oxford, is a student-parent group created after the Oxford High School shooting tragedy.
This comes on the heels of a disclosure to the community by two former school board members that the tragedy could have been avoided had the district implemented their threats assessment policy.
Meanwhile, lawyers representing Change4Oxford filed a motion to amend Change4Oxford’s lawsuit into a class action complaint against the Oxford School District. If the class action amendment is allowed, the group of plaintiffs involved would expand to include every single child in the Oxford School District.
They want the district to “immediately” hire an independent third party to investigate the shooting and what led up to it. They also want the district to review its current safety plan, with parent and student input, and they want the district to update and implement their new safety plan.
“The class action request is based upon the constitutionally protected right of children to receive a public education, which includes the right to a safe learning environment,” attorneys for Change4Oxford stated.
Should the class action motion be approved, the suit would seek a federal court order requiring the Oxford School District to enforce and to update safety procedures and protocols for the benefit of not only the students at Oxford High School, but for all students within the entire Oxford Community School District.
This underscores the importance of training school administrators, teachers, and support staff on school threat assessment, school violence prevention, school crime prevention practices, school security procedures and awareness, and school emergency planning best practices.
Simply put, the first and best line of defense is a well-trained, highly alert school staff and student body.