Whitefish high school and middle school will be introducing a “Bulldog Tip Line.”

The anonymous tip line is meant to allow staffers to resolve or mediate cases involving bullying, intentions of self-harm or harm to others, according to Whitefish Middle School Principal Josh Branstetter.

“We want to provide students one more avenue to report to an adult where they might not feel comfortable going face-to-face,” Branstetter said.

Students as well as parents, guardians or community members may leave voicemails or texts with school-related issues or concerns on the anonymous tip line. Messages will be received by a calling service and then forwarded to designated school staffers such as administrators and counselors.

Superintendent Heather Davis Schmidt said there wasn’t a specific incident that prompted the tip line, rather the recommendation by the Office of Public Instruction for schools to have multiple avenues for students to report issues such as bullying as a result of the Bully Free Montana Act. Branstetter said the district also researched other states using tip lines, such as Colorado and Missouri, with demonstrated success.

“It’s one more communication mechanism to provide student support,” Davis Schmidt said. “We’re recognizing it as a best practice.”

A phone number has not yet been designated and details are expected to be ironed out in the coming weeks.

The tip line will be funded through technology funds at roughly $1 per student, Davis Schmidt said.

“We have some work to do. We need to do some training not only with staff, but with students. We need to look carefully at how it’s going to be implemented appropriately and be used appropriately,” she said.

Other local school districts such as Kalispell and Bigfork have considered tip lines but don’t have any immediate plans to set one up.

Columbia Falls School District has had a tip line for several years, but it has been inactive for some time.

“It was used in the very beginning, but it kind of faded from people’s use,” Columbia Falls Junior High School Principal Dave Wick said.

Wick noted that inactivity, at least in regard to the middle school, may be due to the high level of communication with parents and a level of trust to make reports directly to staff.

“Of course any way of getting information is good,” Wick said noting that the tip line (881-4700) is still available for people to use and can be found in the junior high and high school student handbooks.

Hilary Matheson is a reporter for The Daily Inter Lake. She may be reached at 758-4431 or [email protected].