Oxford High School shooting report: Former school board treasurer calls for accountability
OXFORD, Mich. (FOX 2) - The former Oxford Community Schools treasurer who accused the district of failing to implement policies that could have prevented the Oxford High School shooting called for accountability Wednesday morning.
"Every district needs to learn from this horrific lesson. Safety, threat assessments, and training can no longer be lost in the shuffle," Korey Bailey said.
This comes days after a report highlighting the district's role in the Nov. 30 2021 shooting was released.
The independent report puts the blame on numerous school employees, saying the deadly Nov. 30, 2021 shooting could have been prevented had the district followed a proper threat assessment policy.
"What has been made clear in this report is that this was a systematic failure," Bailey said. "We believe that the question now is whether we will have systematic accountability."
He called for accountability and an apology from those accused of contributing to the shooting.
Bailey resigned from his position on the school board after the shooting, along with board president Tom Donnelly. The pair then came forward alleging that the district failed to implement its policy for assessing threats.
When they came forward last year, Bailey and Donnelly said they both brought up their concerns about the district not having implemented the policy in the months following the shooting.
On Wednesday, Bailey called for threat assessment policies to be mandated and funded, preferably by the federal government, he said. Bailey added that these assessments should be mandated the same way that fire drills are.
"This shooting could have been avoided," Bailey said last year. "This has gone on long enough. I couldn’t take the Oxford stonewalling and lack of accountability anymore."
The investigation report echoes what Bailey said, noting "that had proper threat assessment guidelines been in place and district threat assessment policy followed, this tragedy was avoidable." The report also said that school leadership has shifted the blame elsewhere.