In this 2020 file photo, rows of school buses are parked at their terminal in Zelienople, Pa. (AP photo)

In the four years since the deadly shooting at Oxford High School, Michigan districts have received millions in state funds for safety and mental health services.

But this year there’s a big catch: To get the funding, districts must agree to waive their attorney-client privileges and comply with any state investigation if a mass-casualty event occurs on campus.

The new requirement has left districts with a tough choice: Take the money, or opt out to protect their legal rights. Some school district groups are crying foul, saying the law is vague and stands in the way of getting schools critical funding.

The current state budget provides $321 million for school safety and mental health funding. That includes $214 million for per-student mental health and safety grants, $53.5 million for school resource officers and safety dogs and $53.5 million for mental health staffing.

Under law, school districts and private schools that agree to the funds “must agree to be subject to a comprehensive investigation, must affirmatively agree to waive any privilege that may otherwise protect information from disclosure in the event of a mass casualty event, and must agree to comply with a comprehensive investigation.”

Several school groups are urging lawmakers to reconsider the language.

The law’s language “raises significant legal and operational challenges that could unintentionally discourage full participation in the program and complicate school responses to emergencies,” says a letter from seven school groups including public and religious school groups.

Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, told Bridge the language is in the budget because of the governor and “this was something the governor’s office was unwilling to change.”

“I am very concerned if schools decide not to take this funding. So we’re trying to find a way to keep the spirit of the language whole but also maybe there’s some additional definitions that would make the school groups comfortable.”

Lessons from Oxford

The need for the state to investigate school mass casualty events — and to be able to compel people to cooperate — has been central to the Oxford community’s concerns.

The Oxford High School shooting in 2021 left four people dead, seven people injured and an entire community shaken.

The district hired Guidepost Solutions to conduct a probe but many school employees did not participate in the investigation. Parents of Oxford victims renewed their call for a state investigation last November.

Steve St. Juliana, whose daughter Hana died in the Oxford shooting, told Bridge it’s “ridiculous” it has taken so long to make the investigation happen but the “important piece for me at this point is more to set the precedent so that the next time this happens an investigation takes place immediately and automatically, not four years after an incident.”

St. Juliana told Bridge he supports the law requiring districts that receive the safety funds to waive privilege and comply with an investigation in cases of mass casualties.

“I think it’s absolutely necessary,” St. Juliana said. “I think it would be better addressed in changing the immunity laws and making the right change and a long-term change. But as of right now, the Legislature isn’t willing to go there. This is the best they’ve come with so far.”

Deadline approaching

State Rep. Tim Kelly, R-Saginaw, who helped steer the most recent education budget, told Bridge he was “agnostic” to the specific language in the law but mass casualty events are extremely rare and the school groups’ response has been “an overaction by the lawyers of the ed community.”

Still, he said he thinks lawmakers are working on a solution to address the school groups’ concerns and revert back to previous language of the funding. He said this could come in the form of amending an existing bill, such as the previous budget bill sitting in the Senate. Camilleri said he’s having conversations with Sen. Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, and some of the Oxford families but there still needs to be conversations with the House and the governor’s office.

School districts have until Nov. 30 to apply for the per-pupil funds from the Michigan Department of Education.

It’s unclear if lawmakers will change the law before school districts apply for funds. Peter Spadafore, executive director of the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity, a group of school districts, told Bridge: “We’ve had some interest but no definitive movement” on if lawmakers will take up the issue.

Michigan Department of Education spokesperson Bob Wheaton said in a statement MDE is aware some school officials are concerned about the budget language.

“However, the department is not in a position to provide legal advice on this law.”

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s budget proposal earlier this year included similar language about grant recipients waiving privilege and agreeing to comply with an investigation.

The Whitmer administration did not respond to a request for comment on if the governor would support changing the language.

The previous budget signed by the governor in July 2024 and the supplemental budget signed by the governor in October 2024 do not include the language about waiving privilege or agreeing to an investigation.

School leaders are hesitant

School district leaders have previously praised the school safety and mental health funds. Last year, leaders only budgeted $26.5 million for the program. The amount was significantly less than the $328 million allocated in the 2023-24 budget, leading school leaders to decry the cut. A few months later, leaders passed an additional spending measure to provide $125 million more toward the program.

Redford Union Schools Superintendent Jasen Witt said he does not support the language in the 2025-26 budget and that there “should be no strings attached” to the mental health and school safety funds.

“I understand people’s need or desire to obtain transparency and accountability but I believe that there’s other ways that could be done short of this approach,” said Witt, the father of three children who attended Oxford High School during the shooting.

Witt said this measure is an “attempt to I guess appease people without having to go after and tackle the hard issue about governmental immunity.”

Brian Broderick, executive director of the Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools, told Bridge the language to waive privilege is “really troubling.”

“It’s really broad, there’s no time limit to it and you would be waiving it forever, apparently.”

Broderick said schools are hearing from their lawyers that the risk of accepting the money may outweigh the funds schools could get from the fund. He said the language about cooperating with an investigation is “all fine” but the definition of what a mass casualty event could be improved.

Richmond Community Schools Superintendent Brian Walmsley told Bridge he is recommending to the school board that the district not take the money and instead use its savings to pay for six building security-monitor staff, a half-time social worker, a police officer contract and counseling services this year.

He said the monitoring staff are bus drivers tasked with keeping the building safe during the school day, which increases their hours to be eligible for insurance benefits. The counseling services have helped students, family and staff, he said.

Walmsley said he hopes the language gets changed but is not optimistic that will happen before the deadline to apply for the funds.

“It’s not phrased as ‘the year you took that money, if something happened that year, you’re waiving that year.’ It’s endless.”

At least one school district plans to opt into the funds. The Lansing School District Board of Education recently adopted a resolution that states it has been made aware of the “potential risks and consequences,” and authorizes the superintendent to apply for the funds.

Don Wotruba, executive director of the Michigan Association of School Boards, said he does not have an estimate of how many districts will opt to not apply for funds if the language does not change.

“Rarely do you have good policy written when you’re writing at the last minute with not much input from stakeholders,” he told Bridge.

Camilleri said he wants school districts to have accountability.

“What is the language that we need to make it so this is a no brainer and so people can be comfortable with the accountability? I just don’t know if we’re going to get every school district to say yes.”