Ex-board members: Tragedy could have been prevented
Former Oxford school board members Tom Donnelly and Corey Bailey said they were lied to in the weeks and months after the school shooting that killed four students nearly one year ago.
The pair say the shooting at Oxford High School could have been prevented by following protocols already in place.
The two spoke at a press conference on Monday and said safety protocols that have been in place for almost 20 years were not followed prior to Ethan Crumbley shooting and killing four students on Nov. 30, 2021.
“This board had been told over and over that the school had all the policies in place and that the team did everything right, but a bad thing still happened,” said Bailey, former board Treasurer who resigned in September. “They told us everything was in place. This could not be further from the truth.”
Bailey specified the rule he claims the district did not follow — policy 8400.
Policy 8400 deals primarily with identifying, assessing, and managing students who may pose a threat and was created under the framework of the U.S. Secret Service and Homeland Security Department guidelines.
The policy has been in place in Oxford since 2004 and updated several times since; the most recent update was June 2021.
Donnelly, former board president who also resigned in September, said markers such as changes in student grades, violent behavior or poor test scores could be identified and reported to a team of counselors and administrators to oversee that proper actions are being taken.
“The district certainly did not use it (the policy) as designed in the months leading up to the shooting,” said Donnelly. “There is no evidence that we ever used it as designed.”
The policy reads in part: each team shall be headed by the principal and include a school counselor, school psychologist, instructional personnel, and, where appropriate, the school resource officer. At the discretion of the superintendent, a threat assessment team may serve more than one school when logistics and staff assignments make it feasible.
At the time of the shooting, Nicholas Ejak, dean of students; counselors Pam Parker Fine and Shawn Hopkins; and school principal Steven Wolf were in place at the high school, and Timothy Wolf was superintendent.
After being told of troubling drawings and other issues, counselors met with Crumbley and his parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, on Nov. 30 before sending him back into the classroom, in direct conflict with district protocols, the former board members say. A couple of hours later, he stepped out of a bathroom and gunfire erupted.
Donnelly also said the board was being given conflicting information in the months following the shooting.
“Non-district voices paid for by the insurance company (SET-SEG) were telling us too many times things that were against the board’s interests,” said Donnelly. “I was being told I have all the information, but I didn’t.”
“The board was convinced by voices outside of our district that they needed to wait and coming forward would only bankrupt the district and potentially tear this community apart,” said Bailey.
Donnelly said the thirdparty investigation by Guidepost Solutions that began in May has been hindered by roadblocks and undercut by the insurance company representing the district.
Both Bailey and Donnelly said they will be giving depositions in one of the civil lawsuits later this month, and both are convinced that if the district had followed their own safety procedures things would have been different one year ago.
“I truly believe that if Oxford community schools had been prepared with policy 8400 these past few years, the situation would have ended on Nov. 29, and the 30th would have been just another day in Oxford.” said Bailey.
Oxford schools could not be reached for comment.