DETROIT — All students and staff who were inside Oxford High School during the Nov. 30 shooting should be included in a $1.77 million fund, whether they heard gunshots, saw the alleged shooter or sought counseling afterward, several parents said Monday during a town hall.
Several parents and one student spoke during a town hall hosted by the National Compassion Fund, the organization managing funds donated to the Oxford Community Memorial and Victims Fund.
The event was held to get public feedback on a proposal to distribute nearly $1.8 million in donations to the victims of the Oxford High School mass shooting, which would limit payments for psychological trauma to certain students.
The proposal, first reported by The Detroit News, would limit payments for psychological trauma to students who were in or near a hallway, restroom and one classroom where the shootings occurred.
The plan, as is, would potentially exclude hundreds of students, staff and others who fled the building the day of the shooting in which four students were killed and seven others, including a teacher, were wounded.
Oxford High School parent Joe Ferrari Augusto addresses the steering committee on how the school shooting affected his son, during a public meeting on the subject of distribution of funds from the Oxford Community Memorial and Victims Fund. Photo taken on Monday, March 21, 2022, at Oxford HS in Oxford, Mich.
About 18 people came to the town hall at the high school and more than 130 joined on Zoom to speak to an 11-member volunteer steering committee composed of Oxford-area parents, civic and business leaders, mental health professionals and others who will approve a final version of the plan.
Several parents spoke in person to the committee including Joe Ferrari, who said his 15-year-old son, Augusto, was inside Oxford High the afternoon of the shooting and was among the first to get out.
“He heard the gunshots, he went out the door, I picked him up in 10 seconds,” Ferrari said. “… As a parent it hurt that I couldn’t protect him …That haunts me every night."
Ferrari said he knows other victims have experienced “another level” of trauma, but he remains concerned about his son, who has lost nearly 50 pounds since the shooting, won’t eat and does not want to go to school.
“There is all different levels of trauma,” Ferrari said. “You won’t see it, he won’t be there, he won’t go to counseling."
Several parents who spoke said all children and staff in the building that day should be part of the fund and that telling people they don’t meet criteria is re-traumatizing.
One parent, who identified herself as Jennifer Spezia, said she is speaking for her daughter, a sophomore, and for other children who were in school the day of the shooting but do not fall into the four categories.
“Every student that was within these walls that day deserved to be recognized and be included in your protocol,” Spezia said. “When you tell them they are not, that makes them feel invisible. They all experienced the trauma. They need to feel they were seen.”
A town hall to discuss a plan to distribute nearly $1.8 million in donations to the victims of the Oxford High School mass shooting — which would limit payments for psychological trauma to certain students — begins at 7 p.m. Monday.
Spezia said her daughter will not see a counselor, but is talking to friends.
“Some of the kids don’t want to talk about what is happening. Areas of eligibility should include every student within these walls. These kids need to all be included in this,” she said.
One student who spoke via Zoom said it was hurtful to hear demands that everyone be treated the same on the day of the shooting.
"I would do anything not to be part of this fund ...They (some on the other side of the building) were never in danger ... I ran for my life. It's really hurtful to hear everyone in school was a victim ...These are days I will never forget," she said.
Last month, the steering committee approved a draft plan that will govern the distribution of the funds, which came through a GoFundMe campaign. As of Monday afternoon, the fund contained $1,770,990.
The plan includes a map of the high school that shows the areas where students who suffered psychological trauma would have to have been to be compensated.
Jeff Dion, executive director of the National Compassion Fund and the Oxford fund manager, said four categories of victims have been proposed so far: legal heirs of those who were killed as a direct result of the shooting; those who were physically injured by gunshot or shrapnel; those who suffered some other type of physical injury during the incident; and those who meet the eligibility requirements designated for psychological trauma.
According to the draft document, any individuals who were within the designated area of the school at the time of the shooting and "who experienced psychological trauma which led them to seek, no later than March 30, ongoing mental health treatment with multiple sessions," are eligible to receive payment under the proposal.
A proposal to distribute $1.7 million in donations to the victims of the Oxford High School mass shooting would limit payments for psychological trauma to students who were in or near a hallway, restroom and one classroom where the shootings occurred.
In this group, Dion said a higher level of benefit may be provided to students and faculty who were in close physical proximity to the accused gunman and at "imminent risk of death" or who rendered direct assistance to the victims.
The school had about 1,650 students in classes the day of the shooting with about 100 teachers and staff, according to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.
The committee is meeting Friday to discuss the plan and approve a final document. Dion said the document will not be publish or released until next week.
The application to apply for funds is expected to be available online by April 4 and end on April 29. The fund closes to donations in May. The steering committee expect to approve the distribution plan on June 8 and distribution is set to begin on June 13 on a rolling basis, according to the draft plan.
Three weeks after the end of the month in which all disbursements are completed, Dion said an independent auditing firm will conduct an examination of the fund.
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