Whitmer to sign bill to send $37.5 million for Oxford recovery, school safety

Lily Altavena Dave Boucher
Detroit Free Press
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced plans Friday, June 10, 2022,  to sign a bill sending $37.5 million to schools for safety assessments, including nearly $10 million to Oxford Community Schools to help the  district recover from November's shooting.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer plans to sign a bill sending $37.5 million to schools for safety assessments, including nearly $10 million to Oxford Community Schools to help the district recover from November's shooting, she announced Friday morning.

In a news release, Whitmer said she hopes to continue to work with lawmakers to improve public safety in the state. She was to sign the bill Friday afternoon. 

On Saturday, hundreds of students are expected to march in communities across Michigan to protest gun violence. Some of the students are calling for stricter gun control, including universal background checks and safe storage laws. The bill Whitmer was to sign Friday does not include any gun control provisions. 

The bill provides three buckets of money: 

  • $10 million will go to Oxford Community Schools to be spent on recovery from the shooting, which can include "personnel and additional student supports, including psychologists, family liaisons, mental health staff, school security, additional learning time, legal fees, and the physical restoration of a school building." 
  • $15 million will go to a school safety grant program. School districts and private schools can apply for the grants, which would cover safety and security assessments. 
  • $12.5 million will go to school districts and private schools for "critical incidence mapping," which involves creating detailed maps of school buildings for law enforcement. 

State Rep. Pamela Hornberger, a Chesterfield Republican, introduced the legislation, House Bill 6012. She wrote in a news release that the bill was crafted with Oxford's needs in mind, particularly the need for trauma response like mental health professionals. 

Leaders with the Michigan Education Association praised the legislation in a news release. Jim Gibbons, an Oxford High band director and president of the Oxford Education Association, wrote that coordinating this bill involved conversations with Oakland Schools leaders, Oxford school officials, lawmakers and the governor. 

The nearly $10 million to Oxford includes legal fees, which may help cover the expense of fighting multiple lawsuits filed against the district over the past six months. All of the parents of the four students killed, Hana St. Juliana, Tate Myre, Justin Shilling and Madisyn Baldwin are suing the district or district officials in a variety of suits filed in federal and county courts. 

Baldwin's parents are the latest to file a suit against the district in federal court, claiming school employees could have done more to prevent the shooting.  

Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@freepress.com or follow her on Twitter @LilyAlta.