MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake School District is inviting community members to participate in a town hall meeting focused on addressing bullying and its prevention Oct. 29. The event will take place at the Learning Services Center and is designed to foster open dialogue between district leadership and the community regarding harassment, intimidation and bullying.

Ryan Shannon, the director of public relations for the district, emphasized the importance of community engagement in tackling the bullying issue.  

“We wanted to provide an opportunity because obviously, harassment, intimidation, and bullying is something we take very seriously here within the school district,” Shannon said. “We want to have an open and honest conversation about bullying and its prevention, and that starts with having that open dialogue.” 

The town hall aims to bring together a diverse audience, including staff, families and other community members, to have an open discussion about the experiences people have had within the district. Shannon said this will be the first of several town halls on bullying. 

“It's important that we include everyone in this conversation,” he said. “We want families involved, but there are also community members throughout our area who may no longer have kids in school, but they have just as good ideas or solutions.”  

Unlike traditional town hall meetings that often feature presentations from district administrators, this event will prioritize community input.  

“We didn’t want to bring together a whole bunch of resources and talk at the community. We wanted to hear from the community,” Shannon said. “There will be time for us to bring presentations to the group and to the community, but that happens after we hear from the community in the first place.” 

October is National Bullying Prevention Month. 

“This is just kind of a culmination of Bullying Prevention Month, getting our community together to start having these open dialogues,” said Shannon. “We need to hear those stories. It may be from people that now have kids in the district or maybe they were bullied when they were younger.” 

The school district currently has several initiatives in place to combat bullying, including a designated program for reporting harassment, intimidation, and bullying incidents. The program provides an incident report form for families feeling targeted, allowing them to report situations that affect their children's well-being. 

Shannon highlighted the need for community participation to improve these existing measures.  

“It’s hard to do something about something that isn’t reported, so it’s got to start with the reporting mechanism so that we can then deal with those individual cases of harassment,” he said. "It’s discussed within staff meetings, and we go over how to manage those systems.” 

Moreover, the district utilizes an anonymous reporting system called "Stop It," accessible through their website. This tool encourages students and community members to report incidents without fear of retaliation. 

As the first of potentially many town halls, the Oct. 28 meeting seeks to set the groundwork for future discussions around bullying prevention.  

“We want to start the conversation and then see where the conversation leads us,” Shannon said. “What are some things that the community is looking for that will aid us in putting together that next step?” 

Alongside gathering community stories and ideas, the town hall will serve as a platform for collective brainstorming of effective solutions to the ongoing issue of bullying in schools. The district hopes that this collaboration will foster a safe and respectful environment for every student in the Moses Lake School District. 

“We’re just excited to get the folks together and start having those conversations," Shannon said. "We just need the community to show up and stand up against bullying."  

MLSD Bullying Town Hall

“A Conversation on Bullying” 

6 p.m. Oct. 29 

MLSD Learning Services Center 

1620 S. Pioneer Way