Second Oxford School board member resigns since tragic shooting
OXFORD, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - Two Oxford School Board members have resigned. CBS News Detroit spoke with one back in August who talked about the pressures and scrutiny school board members face in the wake of a school shooting.
Oxford school board president Tom Donnelly was candid about the pressures he and other Oxford School board members faced since the deadly shooting last November that tragically ended the lives of four students.
"It has been tough. You get all these forces crashing down on you and all giving you direction, and all giving you warnings, and all giving you this and that and the other, and the responsibility then to also be a public figure and to help your community. It's a tough walk," said Donnelly.
Since the shooting, parents in the Oxford School District have had serious questions for board members.
"We want to know what happened leading up to, during, and after November 30th," Andrea Jones, an Oxford parent.
"And what it was like, what you were being told what you were hearing about doing an investigation," said another parent.
But Donelly said board members were advised by lawyers not to talk about the shooting.
"Let the prosecutor do their job. Let all those investigations take place. Do not state opinion. Do not say you think this or you think that," he said. "Do not put anything out to that community that might affect the setting up of the prosecution. You're kind of hanging out there trying to be quiet because you think it's the right thing to do and then being told by your community, 'I don't like your silence.' That's a tough position to be in."
On Sept. 14, Oxford schools board president Tom Donnelly resigned. Less than a week later, board treasurer Korey Bailey did too.
Oxford School District Superintendent Ken Weaver sent out a statement saying in part " I would like to thank Korey for the years he dedicated to serving our students and staff through the most challenging of times."
"I would like to thank Tom for his many years of dedicated service to our district and community," Weaver said.
"There should be rules set up by the federal government, by the state governments, rules that you have to have X number of transparency, you have to have certain transparency to just calm the community down, to give them some information. You can't say zero," said Donnelly.
The board sent out a notice stating by state law, board member vacancies must be filled within 30 days of resignation.