Students in Michigan school district will be required to wear clear backpacks when returning to the classroom following Oxford high school shooting, superintendent says
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- Students in the Michigan district where the deadly mass shooting occurred will be required to wear clear backpacks, officials said.
- Oxford Community Schools Superintendent Tim Throne made the announcement in a statement this week.
- The schools will also have private security, trauma specialist and therapy dogs in all buildings, Throne said.
A school official in Michigan announced that students are required to wear clear backpacks upon returning to the classroom as a safety precaution following the deadly shooting at Oxford High School.
This measure comes weeks after the shooting that left four students dead and multiple others wounded. The accused gunman 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley was arrested and is facing four counts of first-degree murder and a terrorism-related charge. The teen's parents —James, and Jennifer Crumbley — were also charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection to the shooting.
"I want to be really clear that these charges are intended to hold the individuals who contributed to this tragedy accountable, and also send the message that gun owners have a responsibility," Prosecutor Karen McDonald previously said at a press conference. "When they fail to uphold that responsibility, there are serious and criminal consequences."
In a statement earlier this week, Oxford Community Schools Superintendent Tim Throne said that "safety both physical and emotional is at the top of our list."
"We are doing clear backpacks for middle-school, Bridges, and high-school students when they return," Throne said. "We have therapy dogs in all the buildings, we have counselors scheduled in all the buildings, trauma specialists scheduled in all the buildings, as well as private security in all the buildings."
The see-through backpack protocol has been used at schools like Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida where a mass shooting took place in 2018. Throne in his statement added that the Oxford community should continue to provide feedback to the district.
According to Detroit News, the superintendent also said that schools employees have received trauma-response training to best aid students.
"Our staff has undergone trauma-response training to be as prepared as possible to help our students. They are using the best practices and data from trauma specialists and crisis response experts who have helped in our planning and training," Thone said in a written update, according to the outlet.