Peters, Stabenow propose bill to help students, teachers after school shootings

Three months after the deadly shooting at Oxford High School, Michigan's U.S. senators proposed legislation Wednesday that could expand mental health resources to help students and educators in the aftermath of such events.

The bill proposed by U.S. Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, both Democrats, would authorize schools where shootings occurred to receive federal grants to hire additional counselors, psychologists and social workers to help students recover.

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It would also instruct the U.S. Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services to investigate the lasting effects of such incidents on students and whether they face a higher risk of developing chronic psychiatric disorders. The two agencies would be expected to come up with the most effective methods to reopen schools after traumatic events like a shooting.

Four students were killed and six students and a teacher were injured in the Nov. 30, 2021, shooting at Oxford High School. A 15-year-old student, Ethan Crumbley, was charged in the shooting, as were his parents, who were charged with involuntary manslaughter for purchasing the gun he is accused of using and allegedly not responding to indications he might be a danger.

The legislation was developed with input from Oakland County school officials, the senators said.

 “Sadly, there continue to be school shootings, and it’s clear that more can be done to provide federal resources to these schools," said Peters. "This commonsense bill would help expand needed mental health resources at schools.”

Stabenow said the mental health needs of adults and children who experience violence firsthand "are urgent and unique."

"This bill will ensure that students in Oxford and others schools across our country receive the critical services they need," she said.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer praised the measure as well, saying it will "ensure children can get the mental health support they need at school.”

It wasn't immediately known how much in federal grants would be made available to schools, only that it appeared from a news release that they could be used to respond to other traumatic events as well experienced by students and educators.