"Their actions have solidified the pain": Oxford High students demand change from district leaders
OXFORD, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – On Tuesday, dozens of Oxford High School students stepped out of class to stand in the cold and rain to have a moment of silence for the four classmates killed by one of their own and demand change.
"Two years later, and we still can't have a voice of what we've been through as victims. It's ridiculous, and we're all sick of it," said Olivia Alvarado, an Oxford High School senior.
Alvarado participated in the "We Will Be Heard" rally organized by Oxford High School junior Giselle Gillim.
Gillim showed up at the most recent school board meeting, the first one since the release of the Guidepost Solutions report examining the mass shooting.
"So after the release of the investigation, we said the truth is out now, we have something to fight for, and we have the information to back it up. We're done being shut up. We're done being silenced. Enough is enough," Gillim said.
She's calling for the immediate removal of the school board president, treasurer, and several other staff members who were around at the time of the shooting
"It's disgusting to see these people responsible for the death of my friends bleeding out in our hallways that we have to stand in this community and know that they're walking freely, working with troubled children in the district," Gillim said.
In order to heal, Gillim says students are in need of professionals trained to help with trauma recovery.
"It's not just their failures leading up to the date of the shooting. It's their failures in the care and the things that we were supposed to receive as students, they have increased the effect of the trauma of the event on the students, their actions have solidified the pain that we feel every single day," Gillim said.
Besides the wreaths they placed outside the gates to the school's football stadium, Gillim said they would like to see a more permanent memorial for the victims.
"Inside the building with the images, Hana (St. Juliana), Tate (Myre), Madisyn (Baldwin), and Justin (Shilling) because their faces are not our triggers, and we want to honor them," Gillim said.
In the meantime, they're asking for the community's continued support.
"We're not stepping down, we're not leaving, we're not running from this, we are not backing down until we get what we want," Gillim said.
CBS News Detroit reached out multiple times to the Oxford Community Schools for comment regarding the rally but haven't heard as of Tuesday evening.
