Community Education

Peninsula School District delays report on harassment, intimidation and bullying

Peninsula School District leaders have deferred release of a report on harassment, intimidation and bullying until April.

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Michael Farmer, the district’s new chief of schools, told the school board in September that he would present findings on a comprehensive investigation of the problem in December or January. Early in 2025, a district spokeswoman said the report was rescheduled for Feb. 25. But it was not on the board’s agenda on Tuesday.

Farmer, in a response to Gig Harbor Now, said the board and top district officials jointly decided to defer the report.

“The Executive Leadership Team and the Board determined that some additional discovery and clarity is needed in order to look further into the details and develop a comprehensive review,” he said. “We are targeting a presentation sometime after Spring Break (April 14-18).”

District responds

In a statement issued Friday, Feb. 28, the Peninsula School Board said it delayed release of the report because an initial draft of it was lacking.

“The initial draft report did not provide the detailed level of policy and procedure analysis, and actionable recommendations around best practices for reporting, tracking, training and prevention of HIB (or harassment, intimidation and bullying) that was originally requested from the board in our September 24, 2024 board meeting,” according to the statement, issued one day after Gig Harbor Now posted this story.

The statement said the district hired Puget Sound Education Services District to audit its policies and procedures, evaluate district communications, analyze prevention measures and identify gaps and provide recommendations. The draft report “primarily identified strengths and opportunities for the district related to HIB … using reiterated data the district has already reviewed.”

“The board shares our community’s sense of urgency around this issue, and appreciates the patience as we work toward strengthening our district’s efforts in preventing and addressing harassment, intimidation, and bullying,” the statement said.

Read the full statement here.

Superintendent’s mandate

Superintendent Krestin Bahr last spring called for the anti-bullying initiative after a deluge of complaints from students, parents and community members. They describe a culture of unchecked bullying, harassment and intimidation often targeting minority or LGBTQ students.

Critics say a culture of bullying and discrimination within the district has been long-standing. Under Bahr’s leadership, the district pledged to end that trend and issued statements after recent incidents decrying the behavior.

In December, the district published an apology to Lincoln High School and the community after a Gig Harbor High School student, who was in the stands at a varsity basketball game, reportedly made a “racially charged reference.” District administrators removed the student from the event. 

“This behavior is unacceptable, does not reflect the values we strive to uphold, and is in direct opposition to who we want to be as a district community,” said a statement from PSD signed by Bahr, district athletic director Wendy Malich, GHHS principal Michele Suiter and other officials. 

Multiple incidents and complaints 

Peninsula School District has grappled with allegations of bullying and discrimination — some substantiated, others not — over the past two years, according to media reports.

In January 2023, the district investigated claims that a player used a racial slur at a girls’ basketball game between Gig Harbor and Peninsula high schools. An independent investigator was unable to substantiate the allegation.

During early 2024, a steady stream of students, parents and community members told the school board their experiences and observations of rampant discrimination and bullying within Peninsula schools. One parent, Aria Messer, said her children have been harassed for both their race and sexual orientation.

“It’s clear, based on the testimony of so many, that harassment, intimidation and bullying is an epidemic in our district,” Messer told the board in February 2024.

Over the summer, the district hired Farmer and Deputy Chief of Schools Julie Schultz-Bartlett. Bahr said one of their key roles would be to review district policies on HIB and make recommendations to the board for fostering a districtwide culture of tolerance and kindness.

Problems continue in 2025

This year’s Fish Bowl, the annual rivalry football game between Peninsula and Gig Harbor, went off largely without incident, thanks to ramped-up security and a new venue. But referees twice stopped play for unsportsmanlike behavior that Malich described as “a DEI warning.” Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) rules prohibit derogatory comments that could be considered harassing or inappropriate. Game officials flagged Peninsula both times.

Later in September, Bahr issued a statement saying the district was aware of troubling cyberbullying aimed not only at students, but staff. Bahr said there had been a recent trend of posts on social media designed to “bully, mock, harass and body shame others.”

Reports in The Stranger, a Seattle publication, and other media indicate the district was responding to online harassment of a Peninsula High School teacher who is a drag artist outside of work. The teacher voluntarily resigned and left the area, according to media reports.

No Trump impact 

Farmer said the district’s work on HIB has had “no impact from the Trump administration.”

President Donald Trump has issued an executive order seeking to scrub federal agencies of DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion) initiatives, which he says are “illegal and immoral discrimination programs.” Peninsula School District disbanded its DEI task force in 2021.  

Trump’s executive order on gender identity seeks to establish that there are two biological sexes, male and female. He wants to end accommodations for transgender individuals, “keeping men out of women’s sports” and assuring “privacy in intimate spaces,” including locker rooms and prisons.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association is considering rule changes that would limit participation in certain girls’ sports to students who are assigned female at birth, according to a report in the Kitsap Sun.

Work completed to date 

Since September, Farmer has worked with HIB experts from the Puget Sound Educational Service District and Franklin Pierce School District to review PSD’s existing policies, gather post-pandemic data, and glean insights from stakeholders. Bartlett is leading a Bullying Awareness and Prevention Task Force working in tandem with the research team. 

“The team has talked with students, staff, parents and community members so far, and looked at data and information referenced in our strategic plan,” Farmer said.

Among the goals of the HIB initiative are: policies and response mechanisms that work better, enhanced training programs and support systems, and a framework for monitoring and accountability.

Farmer in September said implementation of the plan would likely begin in early 2025. He said the district may be able to address some issues fairly quickly. Others that are “systemic” could take months or years to turn around.”