18 | JANUARY 19 • 2023

N

ine days after he
was hired for the
position of middle
school dean of students
for Richmond Community
Schools in Macomb
County, educator Michael
Woodberg resigned after
receiving anonymous written
antisemitic threats to him
and his family if he kept his
post.
According to his LinkedIn
profile, Woodberg for 12
years was a special education
teacher in West Bloomfield
Schools, where he also
coached sports.
The JN contacted
Woodberg, who did not want
to make a comment at this
time.
In a statement
released to
the JN, Jewish
Federation of
Metropolitan
Detroit CEO
Steven Ingber
said: “The
recent incident at Richmond
Community Schools is

deeply disturbing and yet
another reminder of the
prevalence of antisemitism
in our society today. As soon
as the Jewish Federation
was made aware of the
situation, we reached out
to the school district and
conveyed our support for the
victim and his family. We
will continue to be available
to them — along with Jewish
Community Security Inc.
and ADL Michigan.”

In a series of letters to
district families that were
available to the public on the
district’s website, Richmond
Community Schools
Superintendent Brian J.
Walmsley kept
communications
open to the
changing
situation,
only revealing
Woodberg’s
name more than
a week after Woodberg was
threatened.
On Jan. 3, Walmsley wrote
to district families that due

to chronic staffing shortages
that he and other school
personnel officials attempted
to correct by making several
hires over the holiday break,
it was always his original
intent to keep schools closed
the first week of January
to allow for new staff to
acclimate themselves and
prepare their lessons even
before he was alerted to the
threats.

“There is no secret that
districts across the state have
vacancies due to the massive
teacher shortage that has
been building for years, and
Richmond is no different,”
the Jan. 3 letter stated. “Over
the holiday break, my team
has been busy interviewing
and processing new hires
to begin after the new
year. … The cancellation
was to allow new hires
and individuals moving
positions time to organize
and prepare appropriate
lessons for students after
the break. It was also to
provide additional time for

my administrative team to
contact substitutes to fill
vacancies.”
Walmsley continued: “A
situation occurred at the
beginning of (today) that
required the involvement
of the Richmond Police
Department. Shortly after
7:30 a.m., members of my
administrative team brought
to my attention a written
‘death threat’ that was
discovered upon their return
from the holiday break. The
‘death threat’ note not only
threatened the safety of an
employee, but their spouse
and children, and included
personal information. The
individual identified in the
note has been notified.”

Once informed, the
district went into lockdown,
and the Richmond Police
Department was called.
The threat gave a second
justification to cancel classes
and after-school activity for
the remainder of the week,
through Jan. 6.
Updating the district,
Walmsley offered more
detailed information in a
Jan. 5 letter that stated: “The
note was an antisemitic
death threat … Most
disturbing was the personal
information and specific
date indicated in the note.
While the written threat
named a specific employee,
its message and intent affects
all employees. Therefore, I
made the decision to close
school through Friday, Jan.
6, 2023. We should not lose
perspective that a person’s
life was threatened.”
In the Jan. 5 letter,
Walmsley wrote that
the district has “fully

Antisemitic Threat

OUR COMMUNITY

Educator resigns shortly after starting
new position at Richmond Community Schools
due to death threat targeting his family.

Steve
Ingber

Brian J.
Walmsley

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

CBS NEWS DETROIT