OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – A petition demanding Oakland Schools go virtual after the district received several threats has received more than 10,000 signatures.
The petition asks the school district to go virtual until the threats are addressed or until after winter break.
Gary, a former Oakland Schools student, supports the petition.
“People pay high enough taxes to not get that phone call that their kid died in school. There should be a police officer in every single school armed,” Gary said.
Read: Oxford Community Schools closed Tuesday after threat posted to social media
Oakland Schools parent Erica Stevenson does not support the petition.
“Virtual is not for all students. A lot of students with disabilities, with different things, it’s not for them. It’s not for students that learn differently. Of course, it’s some concern there because of what happened. However, we have to keep on going and we have to give our students the best educational environment that they can be in,” Stevenson said.
Jonathan Abo said parents and staff should explore the options of virtual and in-person classes to find some common ground.
“Yeah and no. I feel like it’s harder to learn with virtual, but you can do it both ways,” Abo said.
Local 4 reached out to Oakland Schools but officials could not comment at this time.
School threats are being taken seriously and even when the threats are fake, the consequences are very real. Two students from West Bloomfield are being questioned by police for sharing a fake threat online.
Many other children and teens across Metro Detroit are facing charges.