Oxford Community Schools Board of Education Independent Investigation

The report of the independent investigation into the shooting at Oxford High School on November 30, 2021 will be released to the Oxford community late afternoon on Monday, October 30, 2023, through the website for the independent investigation (oxfordresponse.com). The report will be provided to the Board and the District for the first time when the report is released to the community.

The investigative team will be in Oxford on Thursday, November 2, 2023, at a non-OCS location to be determined and provided to the community, to take questions from the community about our work and findings, at 1:00 p.m., 3:30 p.m., and 6:30 p.m. Community members are encouraged but not required to submit questions in writing before the meetings on November 2, through oxford@guidepostsolutions.com, to facilitate the discussions that day. At the November 2 meetings, we will not be taking questions from the media. We will consider a date for follow-up meetings with the community after the meetings on November 2.

Statement made at the August 8, 2023 Oxford Community Schools Board Meeting by Bradley Dizik.

Good evening everyone,

I am here to report this evening that we are in the ninth inning of our investigation and our work is focused on writing the investigative report.

As was indicated at the end of June, we still expect to produce the final report in the fall. The report will not be released prior to start of the school year but rather after the school year begins this fall. We do not have an exact date at this time. The Board will receive the report when it is made public at the same time as everyone else. To ensure that the district has the adequate resources in place for the impact the report will have on the victims and their families, and the community, we will give indication a few weeks in advance that the report is imminent.

Recently, we were able to meet with both the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office and the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. Each provided us with additional information critical to our report. As recently as last week, the District provided us with additional materials, critical to our report. We watched the Miller Hearing, which covered matters critical to our report. We even recently interviewed additional witnesses who at this late hour decided to come forward and meet with us. Nonetheless, most of our time is devoted to writing the investigative report.

We cannot discuss which materials we have reviewed or witnesses we have interviewed. At this time, we believe we have received from the District all the materials we asked for or we have been told by the District that materials we asked for do not exist. We may have additional requests as we finalize the investigative report.

Each investigation dictates how long the investigation will take. This matter deals with death, trauma, and children. We are taking the time that we believe we need to do a thorough, professional investigation that covers many areas of concern to the Board, the victims and their families, and the Community. Any delays have NOT been caused by the Prosecutor’s Office. The Prosecutor’s Office has been very cooperative. The Sheriff’s Office provided us with everything we have requested. Oakland County and Oakland County Corporation Counsel have been nothing but the utmost professional and have been very cooperative, producing everything we have requested from them. There have been delays in receiving materials from the District’s attorneys that we believe are due to ongoing litigation against the District. We believe we now have everything we asked for or it doesn’t exist. If we need additional materials, we will ask for them. Moreover, although many witnesses have talked to us, many critical witnesses have refused to talk to us on the advice of the District’s attorneys, causing delays in our work. We will address all of this in our report.

We plan to use in our report information provided to us by the Prosecutor, on the condition that we will show the Prosecutor the information we plan to use before we use it, to make sure the Prosecutor is ok with us using information the Prosecutor provided so that we do not interfere with the prosecution of the shooter or his parents. Ideally, we will do this in the next few weeks.

That concludes our remarks.

• Guidepost Monthly Update: Status of the Report of the Independent Investigation

Please be advised that the release of Part 1 of Guidepost’s Independent Report on Threat and Suicide Assessments and Physical Security for Oxford (Michigan) Community Schools has been issued. (This is NOT the Independent Investigation Report.) This report was released to the public at the same time it was shared with the Oxford Community Schools Board of Education and district administration. Part 1 of the report includes Guidepost’s comprehensive findings from its security and threat assessment and its full set of recommendations based on those findings. Please click here to download the report.

Please direct all inquiries to oxford@guidepostsolutions.com

Please be advised that the release of Part 1 of Guidepost’s Independent Report on Threat and Suicide Assessments and Physical Security for Oxford (Michigan) Community Schools is imminent. (This is NOT the Independent Investigation Report.) This report is being released to the public at the same time it is being shared with the Oxford Community Schools Board of Education and district administration.

Guidepost will hold three public meetings to address questions from the Oxford community regarding this report. All questions will be asked via note cards. No questions about Guidepost’s findings related to the independent investigation will be answered at these meetings.

On May 11, 2023, Guidepost will hold the following public meetings to address questions regarding its findings and recommendations.

• 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Oxford Township Board Room, 300 Dunlap Road, Oxford, MI 48371
• 3:30 – 5:00 PM: Oxford Middle School Commons, 1420 Lakeville Rd, Oxford, MI 48371
• 6:30 – 8:00 PM: Oxford Middle School Cafeteria, 1420 Lakeville Rd, Oxford, MI 48371

Security and safe spaces along with mental health counselors at each of these Q&A meetings will be provided.

A second report from Guidepost detailing the findings of the independent investigation into the events leading up to, on the day of, and following the tragic shooting at Oxford High School on November 30, 2021, will be released at a later date. For continuous updates from Guidepost, please visit: https://guidepostsolutions.com/oxford-community-schools-board-of-education-independent-investigation/

• Oxford Community Schools Board of Education Statement April 11, 2023

The recent decision by the Oakland County Circuit Court regarding the immunity of Oxford Community Schools and its employees will have no adverse impact on our independent investigation. Our work continues unabated.

Since our last update, we have continued to receive greater voluntary cooperation from District employees including critical witnesses. The interviews for most critical witnesses have been completed. We are in the process of scheduling a handful more interviews with critical witnesses over the coming weeks. We thank all current and former Oxford Schools employees, officials, and Board members who have voluntarily talked to us and their counsel for helping to facilitate these interviews.

Additionally, the District has provided us with all requested materials (including pre-November 30, 2021 communications with counsel) except for a handful of new procedure documents that are currently being implemented and reviewed by the District. We expect that at the end of the District’s implementation and review process, hopefully in early April, we will be able to examine and report on whether certain District procedures are in place and consistent with best practices. We have received from the District almost 700,000 documents (around 790 gigabytes), of which approximately 70,000 documents were responsive and required human review for relevance and materiality.

Our reports will provide the community with a full accounting of what is currently in place and what happened before, during, and after the tragic events of November 30, 2021.

Update from Guidepost Solutions on the Status of the Oxford Community Schools Board of Education Independent Investigation

On November 22, 2022, Ken Weaver resigned as Superintendent of Oxford Community Schools. This followed on the heels of the resignations of two board members including the board president. As was stated publicly at the school board meeting that evening, as of November 22, 2022, Guidepost had a fifty percent voluntary cooperation rate, and expected to release its first report documenting the Oxford Community Schools’ current security and threat assessment practices in late January 2023.

Shortly after the announcement of former Superintendent Weaver’s resignation, the Oxford Community Schools Board of Education appointed Anita Qonja-Collins followed by Dr. Vickie Markavitch to serve as Superintendent on an interim basis. Dan D’Alessandro was appointed board president. Additionally, another board member was appointed to serve the remainder of the term of one of the board members who resigned, and three new board members were elected by the citizens of Oxford.

Since early December through January 2023 and now leading into February 2023, voluntary cooperation has increased.

Critical witnesses, administrators, staff, teachers, in addition to Oakland County Sheriff employees seconded to Oxford Community Schools agreed to meet with us. Guidepost now expects to have a seventy to eighty percent voluntary participation rate at the conclusion of our investigation. This increase includes around forty to fifty percent of the critical witnesses or witnesses represented by counsel who we have requested to interview either already sitting for their interview, will have their interview in the coming weeks, or have indicated their intent to meet with us over the next month. Additionally, Oxford Community Schools has a new Executive Director of School Operations who is in the best position to provide context about what is currently in place and may change in the future as it relates to the district’s security and threat assessment practices who we will meet with next week.

Because of these personnel changes and the opportunity to report to the Oxford community on the current security and threat assessment practices with additional information that derives from the increase in voluntary cooperation, Guidepost’s first report will now be released in Spring 2023. This report and any subsequent report will be released to the public at the same time as it is released to the Oxford Community Schools’ Board of Education and its administration. Our public report(s) will be unedited and without influence from any stakeholder associated with the Oxford Community Schools.

For those who have not met with us yet but may have information to contribute, Guidepost’s interviews are confidential and anonymous, where appropriate, meaning generally your voluntary cooperation will not be shared with the district, its counsel, or anyone else associated with the district. We are happy to meet with you at a site outside of Oxford that can help provide you with confidentiality and anonymity, where appropriate. Additionally, our investigators are all trauma informed and are intentional with their approach to ensure a witness’s safety and security.

If you are interested in meeting with us, please confidentially reach out at oxford@guidepostsolutions.com or directly to one of our investigators to set up a time to meet. We are offering in person and virtual interviews, the latter of which can also be done from the comfort of a person’s home or offsite during or after work hours including in the late evening.

As for the twenty to thirty percent of witnesses, and the fifty to sixty percent of critical witnesses who have not yet voluntarily cooperated with the independent investigation, whether represented by counsel or otherwise, we still request your participation. Guidepost cannot compel cooperation. In an investigation where cooperation is entirely voluntary, it is not unusual to receive imperfect participation especially where there is a fear of criminal or civil liability to self, coworkers, or the district. However, in this investigation because to our knowledge no District official or employee faces criminal charges, and generally are indemnified by the district, we find it unfortunate that certain witnesses have decided not to voluntarily cooperate to help make Oxford Community Schools stronger, to provide transparency to the community each serves, and to help a review that is intended to inform ways that Oxford Community Schools and school districts across Michigan and this nation can better provide safety and security to students, teachers, staff and other community members from violence. Our fundamental question that we want to learn from each witness is what Oxford Community Schools can do better to help make each person we meet with more successful and effective in doing their job particularly in providing safety and security now and in the future. Additionally, we continue to believe that it is a mistake for current and former Oxford Community Schools’ employees who will be discussed in our report to not meet with us to explain what led up to and occurred on November 30 from their perspective. A decision to not cooperate with the investigation hinders our ability to understand context that only the witness can speak to about the facts. In our experience, the extent of third-party interference of this investigation has been unusually extraordinary. Thankfully, recently, effective communication has dispelled many misunderstandings of the investigative process and intent and has helped address concerns particularly of people not represented by counsel and increased voluntary participation. In the face of these challenges, our continued intent and hope is that our report will be comprehensive and informative and will include facts currently not known and build upon facts already available to the public.

Guidepost Solutions has been hired to conduct an independent investigation into the events surrounding the tragedy of November 30, 2021, at Oxford High School. As we diligently pursue this investigation, we have spoken to community members, students, Oxford High School staff and administrators, teachers, and family members. These sessions have been invaluable. It is important that we continue to speak to anyone who wishes to share relevant information.

Should you schedule an interview? If you have information regarding the handling of the tragic events, or those events leading up to or after November 30, please schedule a time to speak with the Guidepost team.

When: On October 12, October 13, and October 14.

Where: Interviews will be held at two locations. Please choose the location and date that is most convenient or comfortable for you by selecting the link of your preferred location.

Springhill Suites Auburn Hills, 4919 Interpark Dr, Orion Twp – first floor conference room

Oxford Public Library, 530 Pontiac St, Oxford – private conference room

• October 12 – SpringHill Suites Auburn Hills
• October 13 – SpringHill Suites Auburn Hills or Oxford Public Library
• October 14 – Springhill Suites Auburn Hills

Who: A dedicated team of trauma-informed Guidepost professionals.

If you would like to schedule an interview with the Guidepost team, please register at the Springhill Suites Auburn Hills or here to register at the Oxford Public Library, for an interview time slot. At Guidepost, we know that every report is important, and we are working carefully to ensure that all information is handled appropriately as we work to prepare our public report.

Parents are welcome to attend interviews with their Oxford High School children.

If you are unable to find a suitable time slot or would like to schedule a virtual interview, please reach out to Morgan Maiorino at mmaiorino@guidepostolutions.com.

Thank you for your time and consideration. We look forward to meeting with you. If you have any questions about the interview itself or the process, please do not hesitate to contact Laura Rogers at lrogers@guidepostsolutions.com or 202-603-1586.

The Oxford Community Schools Board of Education has commissioned an independent investigation into the events leading up to, on the day of, and following the tragic shooting at Oxford High School on November 30, 2021.

A dedicated website was created for the latest updates on the investigation and can be viewed here.

CONTACT US:

The independent investigation is underway. To maintain the independence and integrity of the investigation, neither the board nor the district administration is engaged in the investigation. Please direct all questions about the investigation to the investigative team.

If you have relevant information to share or if you would like to communicate with someone on the investigative team, please contact us at Oxford@guidepostsolutions.com.

SCOPE OF INVESTIGATION

Review & Evaluation

Investigation team members have familiarized themselves with the Oxford Community Schools District, including its administration, the five primary schools, one middle school, one high school, two alternative schools, and the early learning school.

The team is now engaging in an extensive review and evaluation of the following. As the investigation proceeds, the team may identify additional areas for review and evaluation.

1. School policies, procedures and practices in place at the time of the shooting.

The team is reviewing relevant school policies, procedures and practices in place at the time of the shooting and evaluating whether they satisfy laws, regulations and best practices. Some of the areas under review include:

• School physical security
• School resource officers
• School training/drills
• School emergency communications
• Measures to identify, assess and address student behavior indicating a potential propensity toward school violence
• Social media monitoring
• External engagement with student families, child protection services, social services, law enforcement, etc.
• Searching students, student lockers and student bags
• School and school district practice with any previous incidents or threats of violence
• Student behavioral/mental health resources

1. Review the shooter’s history and evaluate what school officials knew about the shooter before the shooting.
2. Evaluate whether school staff followed training and whether their actions satisfied applicable laws, regulations, and best practices in response to the shooter’s behavior before the shooting.
3. Review actions and evaluate whether school staff, school resource officers, and students followed school active shooter policies, procedures, and training during the shooting.
4. Review and assess school security measures and the school emergency communications system during the shooting.
5. Review and assess the support the school and school district provided to students, staff and families following the shooting.
6. Post-shooting security review and assessment, including an evaluation of security improvements and adoption of best practices.

Recommendations & Report

Over the course of the investigation, the team will make recommendations to the school district if and when they identify areas for immediate action.

At the conclusion of the investigation, the team will provide the Oxford Community Schools Board of Directors and district administration with a comprehensive report of its findings and its full set of recommendations based on those findings.

The full report will be made public simultaneous with delivery to the board and district administration.

NOTES ON GUIDEPOST’S GUIDING PRINCIPLES AND METHODOLOGY

Throughout this investigation, the Guidepost process will be governed by best practices designed to ensure accountability, transparency, and care for the wellbeing of victims of the shooting, including students, teachers, staff, families and community members.

Key principles of our work will include:

• Trauma-informed witness interviews, where appropriate
• Anonymity and confidentiality for witnesses, where permitted by law
• A dedicated, publicly accessible 24/7 reporting system for witnesses to contact Guidepost and provide information: Oxford@guidepostsolutions.com
• Periodic updates will be posted on a dedicated website currently under development
• Structural audit and practical recommendations that are trauma-informed and based on best practices for educational institutions and standards and guidelines
• Our commitment to provide the Oxford Community Schools Board with a comprehensive framework to implement safety and security program reforms in a fully transparent manner

At the conclusion of the investigation and accompanying security review, Guidepost will develop a complete set of findings and a comprehensive recommended framework within which the Oxford Community Schools can operate in order to continue to address the concerns raised by the Oxford community in a transparent and accountable manner that prioritizes care and enhances practices for prevention.

We will share the report with the community at the same time it is shared with the Board and school administration.

Guidepost will ensure that Oxford Community Schools develops a process that provides for historical accountability, healing for all stakeholders with an emphasis on victims and their families, and future supervision, monitoring, auditing and implementation of a safety and security program built on best practices and guided by security standards and guidelines.

If potentially illegal or unethical conduct is reported to Guidepost, Guidepost may conduct its own investigation or refer the matter to the appropriate authorities. Certain allegations, if reported to Guidepost, may trigger a mandatory reporting obligation to the appropriate authorities.

Further, in order to promote complete transparency and to ensure accountability, Guidepost will document whether any person or entity has withheld access to information, documents, records, facilities and/or employees, officers, agents, or others, or has otherwise obstructed or attempted to obstruct our investigation.