Dear Oxford Families and Students,
As we near the one-year anniversary of the Oxford High School tragedy on November 30th, our hearts continue to be with our community as we continue to heal. We want our focus to be on supporting our community through this difficult anniversary, yet we continue to see threats here and throughout the county. As we have learned, the sad reality is after major school tragedies, copycat threats occur at an exponential rate. Together with our local law enforcement agencies and the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, we wanted to share what districts are observing in our county and how parents can be proactive partners with the police and districts in preventing threats and school violence.
Across Oakland County, students have been making bomb threats, writing threats on walls, and verbalizing threats. These threats have been made in and out of school, including on social media. Social media posts have included challenges to see which school district can have the most lockdowns. After making verbal and written threats, students often insist the threats are jokes, or that they were just seeking attention. This past year, the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office has charged 42 cases of school threats. Whereas in the year prior to November 30, 2021, there was only one case charged by the office.
The reality is that these incidents and threats continue to scare students, staff, and the community. These are not funny, and they cannot be taken lightly. These actions disrupt the learning environment and the ability to continue our healing.
Any type of threat, joking or not, can have significant consequences. Sheriff Bouchard recently issued the following video. We encourage you to watch it and watch it with your child(ren) and discuss the seriousness of threats.
As a reminder, all reported threats are thoroughly investigated with the assistance of law enforcement. The information that we provide our school community regarding students involved is guided by the Family Education Rights to Privacy Act (FERPA) and the factors involved in the investigation. While we are not able to share specific discipline related to an incident or investigation, what we can share is that depending on the results of the investigation, suspensions or even expulsions may occur.
We continue to ask everyone to be vigilant and to keep the lines of communication open. As parents and caregivers, here are some things you can do:
- If you have weapons in the home, please make sure they are safely secured and stored.
- Monitor your child’s electronic devices for inappropriate or concerning content.
- Know the access codes to your child’s electronic devices.
- Monitor their social media accounts. The age to open an account is 13 for all platforms.
- Consider downloading an app to help with parental controls on your child’s devices.
- Report tips confidentially to OK2SAY, by calling 855-565-2729, texting 652729, downloading the OK2SAY app, or emailing [email protected]..
Sincerely,
Oxford Community Schools