OXFORD, Mich. — Increased security, new paint in "calming colors" and hand-written messages of support on hearts and snowflakes will greet students returning to Oxford High School on Monday for the first day of school since a mass shooting on Nov. 30.
A team of therapy dogs will walk the hallways with handlers, including where the shooting took place. Trauma-trained staff will be looking for signs that students need help as they ease back into classrooms. "Safe rooms" have been created where students can find solace and help from crisis counselors.
A new mural has been painted across a giant wall of the sprawling school, which before the shooting had about 1,800 students.
Regardless of the changes, stepping back inside Oxford High School will be a new experience for every student, school staffer or parent in the wake of the shooting. Hana St. Juliana, 14; Tate Myre, 16; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; and Justin Shilling, 17, were killed, and a teacher and six students were wounded.
Many of the shooting victims are continuing their long physical recovery at home, including Kylie Ossege, 17, who was shot in the chest and left the hospital earlier this month.
Some parents say their sons or daughters are excited to return to the routine of high school and see their friends after spending seven weeks away from the building as officials made repairs to damaged classrooms, windows and doors.
Others say their children are not ready to come back after the trauma of the shooting. Some have enrolled in the district's virtual academy and will stay home to learn. District officials said 200 families asked for information on the program and that 20 students requested to transfer from Oxford High School to Oxford Virtual Academy.
Cheryl Verbeke has three daughters at Oxford High School, and one — who heard the gunshots on Nov. 30 — does not want to return to the school and has enrolled in the district's virtual academy. Her other daughters, who were in other parts of the school at the time of the shooting, are ready to go back.
"She is not comfortable going back into the school," Verbeke said about her daughter who will learn virtually. "It has to do with trust issues with school administration. The others want to be back in school because of the social aspect of it. They do better with learning in person."
Verbeke said she is nervous about her daughters returning to the building but is hopeful the advice the district is seeking from trauma specialists will help all the students heal from the tragedy and feel secure in their own building.
"We are all going through this and trying to be supportive of each other. It's tricky. It's not like there is a rule book on this," Verbeke said.
Security steps, other changes
One Oxford High School parent, who asked not to be identified, says she is sending her daughter back to school, but reluctantly, because she still has questions about how the district is going to prevent more weapons from getting inside the building.
While her daughter, a senior, is anxious to finish her last year of school and graduate in the spring, the parent said clear backpacks and a team of therapy dogs are not enough to prevent another mass shooting inside the school. In fact, she said they are a distraction from the real work that needs to be done.
More dramatic security steps, such as metal detectors, are under review by the district but will not be part of Monday's return to the high school.
The hallway where former Oxford High sophomore Ethan Crumbley is accused of firing rounds into locked and barricaded classroom doors has been renovated and will be open to students. The district has closed the bathroom where part of the shooting took place and banned the use of lockers under the advice that certain sounds can be triggering.
Open houses at the school are being held daily through Saturday to ease students back into the building where Crumbley is accused of opening fire just after lunch on the last day of November.
Parent Autumn Coffman said her daughter was looking forward to returning to the high school for an open house this week and for the first day of school on Monday.
Coffman plans to attend with her daughter to gauge her emotional reaction to being in the building where the shooting happened. Coffman's children were not in school the day of the shooting.
"I want to see her physical reaction to everything. I want to go with her," Coffman said. "She was excited to see some photos of updates. She is pretty excited about going back and getting back into a steady routine."
Coffman said the school is doing a good job preparing for the students' return by making them comfortable when they come back.
"I feel bad for anyone who was there that day," said Coffman of the shooting. "It's not the school's responsibility to make sure the kids are mentally OK. It’s the parents."
'Ritual and routine' aid recovery
James Henry, an expert in child trauma, has been working with staff and students in the weeks leading up to their return to Oxford High to discuss the effect of stress and trauma on the body and brain.
Henry said he is giving them language to understand what is happening to them physically and emotionally as they process what happened on Nov. 30 and what they may be experiencing when they return to the place where it happened.
"Ritual and routine is important to trauma recovery," Henry said of students being back in school. "Returning to school, friends, teachers and academics — it reconnects them to that wiring when they are out of their routine," Henry said.
"No one can guarantee that (it) won't happen again," Henry said of the shooting. "We can say every effort has been made to ensure that here. High school kids are very aware you can't make promises. We thought it can't happen here and it did."
Jill Lemond, assistant superintendent of student services, told the school board on Jan. 11 when students return on Monday, teams of trained grief counselors, mental health experts, security consultants, faith leaders and others will be on hand to help support them.
In terms of security, Lemond said the district will respond to any reports of threats, weapons or inappropriate images and will involve mental health experts and law enforcement when appropriate.
"Consequences could include removal from school. I would ask for the board’s support as we are hyper-vigilant right now. We are asking parents to speak to students and explain inappropriate content is being looked at through a different lens now,” Lemond said.
Returning students have choices in how they attend the high school. They may attend in person, work online or enroll in the Oxford Virtual Academy, which has its own teachers and is also online, school officials said.
Most OHS students are staying to attend in person, Lemond said, with current enrollment remaining at 1,795 students as of Friday. Current OVA enrollment is 2,052, she said. About 88% attended in-person classes at the middle school the week of Jan. 10.
The district said students will be given academic coursework when they return on Monday and should expect all classes and programs to return to a "normal’ academic level of rigor during the second semester.
"We understand some students may want to try coming back to OHS in-person, but find it difficult to transition back," the district said on its website. "OHS teachers will work with students under this circumstance so they can engage remotely from home during the first few weeks of the second semester."
Parent Kit Grabowski has two children at the high school who were not at school on the day of the shooting. Her senior is returning to school while her freshman who attends the virtual academy will remain home online.
"I like the idea of the open houses. It gives the kids an opportunity to possibly address some anxieties about going. ... Feelings are very personal. Emotions are more with teenagers," Grabowski said.
While metal detectors have been raised as a security option, Grabowski said they would create lines and make kids anxious about standing outside.
"Regardless of what happened at the high school, Parkland, Sandy Hook — all of it is going through my head," Grabowski said. "They are still safer in school than on the road."
Grabowski's sons did not want to be interviewed but told her they are concerned the school continues to ignore pleas to take security more seriously.
"Right now, I don’t see things being a whole lot different. They’ve allowed sports teams to get back in and out of school. They are still walking in with regular backpacks or bags," Grabowski said. "(There's) no evidence it's different than before the shooting. They could be putting things in the school that are bad for the school."
She said she expects the return to the high school will be emotional.
"I owe it to my kids and the other kids to have adult support. A lot of kids don’t want to talk to their own parents about it," Grabowski said. "I don't know what is going to happen. It could be anything."
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