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

