Oxford school shooting causes a wave of closings

By Charles Sercombe
Hamtramck Public School District students got an unscheduled day off last Friday.
A wave of schools across the metro area also closed last week, following the shooting deaths of four Oxford High School students by a fellow student.
That incident spurred numerous copycat threats at other schools, forcing their closures. Over a dozen people in the metro area have been charged for making those threats.
There were no reported threats in Hamtramck.
That meant a number of teachers were forced to stay home with their children, which also meant there was a shortage of substitute teachers.
Hamtramck Interim School Superintendent Nabil Nagi said that the situation caused a crippling shortage of teachers here.
That forced him to announce the closings of all Hamtramck public schools.
But by Monday, the district was back up and running.
The closings also came at a time of increased concern over the spreading Covid crisis.
That prompted The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) to issue guidelines for districts, to quickly isolate staffmembers and students who display COVID-19 symptoms.
The agency also is encouraging the public to get vaccinated and/or booster shots.
“Schools have the ability to be safe now that children ages 5 and older can be vaccinated,” said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical executive at MDHHS, in a press release issued by the agency.
“We continue to urge all eligible residents to get the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible as it is our best defense against the virus. Masks, distancing, quarantine and isolation are all additional strategies that keep our schools and public spaces safe.”

Posted Dec. 10, 2021