Michigan Board of Education to consider resolutions regarding school safety reforms
OXFORD, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – At the same time that the parents of the Oxford High School shooter convicted of involuntary manslaughter get sentenced on Tuesday, the State Board of Education will consider a set of resolutions demanding reforms regarding school safety.
One of those resolutions was written by the parents of the victims of the mass shooting.
The fathers of Hana St. Juliana and Justin Shilling, two of the lives lost in the Oxford High School shooting, are calling for immediate reforms to ensure the safety of students.
"Without accountability, there can be no true change. Immunity is blocking the ability to clearly identify the problems and is blocking the ability to drive necessary change," Steve St. Juliana, Hana St. Juliana's father, said.
On Monday and in the past, both parents said that the tragedy could have been prevented had the school's emergency operations plan, otherwise known as an EOP, been implemented as required by law. So they're asking lawmakers to mandate independent investigations into safety incidents at schools and hold individuals accountable for negligence whenever an EOP isn't followed through.
"Things will only get better if we make the precise changes to what we've identified as the why based on all the information available," said Craig Shilling, Justin Shilling's father.
They also say changes need to happen when it comes to governmental immunity — something that the mother of Lilliana Kerr says has kept schools from doing regular safety inspections — which could have stopped a 350-pound table that had been recalled from falling on her 3-year-old daughter in 2017.
"Our children are governed with a zero-tolerance policy. But when said child is injured or killed, it's 100% tolerated. It's time for the adults to let go of their egos, their prejudices and accept that this isn't about us. It's about our kids," said Tabatha Kerr, Lilliana Kerr's mother.
Nikki Snyder, a member of the State Board of Education, will introduce their resolutions to the rest of the board at Tuesday's meeting with the hope they can compel lawmakers to enact change.
"It takes time to wade through these things, but you have to start by putting it on paper, putting together a blueprint, and moving forward," Snyder said.