Oxford High students can claim belongings from school next week

Students at Oxford High School will be able to reclaim some of their possessions from the school beginning next week, a small act amid a mass shooting that fractured the community and beyond.

It will be a step in getting the school back to normal, but experts say reuniting people with their possessions is only a small part of stitching together a normal routine after a deadly shooting.

They won't be alone: police and crisis counselors will be on hand to help navigate what is sure to be an unsettling reconnection with the familiarity of their school.

Principal Steve Wolf said in an email to parents Wednesday that students can pick up their belongings beginning Monday through Dec. 15. They won’t be re-entering the school. Instead, teachers will be in the parking lot to pass out items left behind during the carnage that unfolded during fifth period.

It likely will be the first time they’ve been back near the building since it became the scene of the deadliest school shooting on Nov. 30 since May 2018, according to Education Week.

Police will be present, Wolf said in an email, as will “professionally trained crisis response counselors and therapists.”

One of the biggest issues in restoring the school is the building is a crime scene, experts said. “ ... The police need to go through and figure out what is evidence” before anything would be returned, said Alan Cohen, owner and CEO of Bio SoCal, a biohazard cleaning company in California.

Dani Stublensky, a spokesperson for Oxford Community Schools, said people have come together to support those affected by the shooting. The district has been collecting monetary donations since the shooting and launched a form for those interested in donating mental health resources, food, maintenance materials and more. Stublensky said the district received an “overwhelming outpouring” of donations, but she did not comment on the specifics of what had been donated.

The district also has been collecting money through Oxford Bank, Genisys Credit Union and the district itself. Money will be administered by the Village of Oxford and the Oxford Downtown Development Authority through the “Oxford Community Memorial and Victims Fund,” according to the district’s website.

The school itself is expected to be closed at least until Jan. 2, when the holiday break ends.

hharding@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @Hayley__Harding