STATE OF MICHIGAN

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
GRETCHEN WHITMER MICHAEL F. RICE, Ph.D.
LANSING STATE SUPERINTENDENT
GOVERNOR

State Board of Education Resolution in the Aftermath of Tragedies at

Oxford High School and Michigan State University

WHEREAS, on November 30, 2021, in Oxford High School, four students—Hana St.
Juliana, Tate Myre, Justin Shilling, and Madisyn Baldwin—were killed and six students
and one staff member were injured;

WHEREAS, on February 13, 2023, 14-1/2 months later, at Michigan State University,
three students were killed and five injured in another tragedy;

WHEREAS, the Michigan Legislature appropriated Oxford Community Schools

$9,828,000 in non-recurring funds to assist in providing recovery supports to the
students, staff, families, and community over the course of three years;

WHEREAS these tragedies, among others, have shone a light across the state on the
need to do more associated with Goal 3 of Michigan’s Top 10 Strategic Education Plan,
to improve the health, safety, and wellness of children;

WHEREAS the State Legislature approved an FY24 state budget and the governor
signed that budget into law to provide $456 million for children’s mental health and
school safety, more than ten times the funding for these purposes in the FY19 state
budget, an increase supported by the State Board of Education that has permitted
the Michigan Department of Education to work with local and intermediate school
districts to fund more than 1,000 additional helping professionals in schools than were
funded three years ago. These positions include school social workers, guidance
counselors, nurses, and school psychologists;

WHEREAS the State Legislature has passed, and Governor Whitmer has signed into
law, noteworthy gun safety laws since the two tragedies, including most notably safe
gun storage, universal background checks, and red flag laws, legislative
improvements supported by the State Board of Education;

WHEREAS the Oxford Community Schools Board of Education contracted with

Guidepost to do an investigation of the November 30, 2021, tragedy, an investigation
that shed light on many details of the tragedy but that left unanswered questions of
Oxford parents and community members;

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION

PAMELA PUGH – PRESIDENT • ELLEN COGEN LIPTON / TIFFANY D. TILLEY – CO-VICE PRESIDENTS
JUDITH PRITCHETT – SECRETARY • MARSHALL BULLOCK II – TREASURER
MITCHELL ROBINSON – NASBE DELEGATE • TOM MCMILLIN • NIKKI SNYDER

608 WEST ALLEGAN STREET • P.O. BOX 30008 • LANSING, MICHIGAN 48909 • WWW.MICHIGAN.GOV/MDE • 833-633-5788
WHEREAS, on May 21, 2024, at the invitation of the state superintendent, parents
of Hana, Tate, Justin, and Madisyn addressed the State Board of Education at the
board’s work session and called for several measures, including but not limited to a
comprehensive investigation of November 30, 2021, as well as the emergency
response associated therewith; state funding for peer mentoring and student wellness
surveys; and mandatory threat assessment as part of schools’ emergency operation
plans;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the State Board of Education calls upon
the Michigan Legislature to mandate and fund a comprehensive, independent review
of the Oxford killings, including but not limited to relevant events before, during, and
after the tragedy, including emergency operation plans (EOP), within the school,
district, community, and emergency response system.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED in any circumstance where a student has died or

multiple students die, as a result of a safety-related event, the state board of
education recommends that the legislature mandate a full and funded independent
investigation by a coordinated team of appropriate state agencies that collaborate
and coordinate with one another.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State Board of Education calls upon the
Michigan Legislature to pass a FY25 state budget that makes recurring all of the
Section 31aa funding for children’s mental health and school safety and to make
explicit the ability to use these funds for wellness checks, peer mentoring, and
additional helping professionals, among other important uses. Section 31aa, new in
its current form in the state budget this year, is funded at $328 million but is currently
designated as nonrecurring. Section 31n funding in the amount of almost $113 million
is currently recurring and must remain as such; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the State Board of Education calls upon the Michigan
Legislature to require suicide and threat assessment to be a part of every emergency
operation plan and threat assessment training be available in a train the trainer model
for all districts in the state within two years of legislative passage and funding.

Resolution passed on June 11, 2024, by a vote of 7 – 1.