In light of the school shooting in Oxford, Mich., Dr. Jeanice Swift, the Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) superintendent, has made an effort to reach out to students and families in hopes of lowering the chance of a shooting happening in Michigan, but especially in the AAPS district.

Swift sent an email out to students and families on Dec. 1, 2021 mentioning support that the AAPS offers and the ways students and families can receive guidance through the next few days. The email made reference to Ok2Say, the program in place for students, families and faculty of AAPS to anonymously report any threats to the health and safety of people in the Ann Arbor community.

Ok2Say, which is used throughout Michigan, believes that early intervention and prevention are the keys to help slow the amount of violence in schools. Any call, text, email or tip that is received sends a notification to state and local authorities. Authorities are also reported when students search something that could harm themselves or others on school wifi or a school device.

“Ok2Say it’s an anonymous way for kids to submit a tip that we need to publicize,” said Paul DeAngelis, the executive director of AAPS.

It is an easy and quick app that will send an anonymous tip to the Michigan State Police Department. You can call, text or email to get the tip out there. There is also a mobile app that can be used to submit tips as well.

“It was a system put in place so that students, specifically students, [it] didn’t have to be related to schools specifically, could report things they were seeing on social media,” DeAngelis said. “[Someone will] grab a screenshot of that and then it gets relayed to school officials here.”