North Mason investigation uncovers policy violations

Matt Baide | Nov 03, 20220

Courtesy of North Mason School District Facebook page count

North Mason High School.

North Mason students and parents violated North Mason's civil conduct policy in an incident after the North Mason volleyball match against Bremerton on Oct. 18 in Belfair.

North Mason School District Superintendent Dana Rosenbach said the investigation has determined "a few" students and parents violated the policy. The incident had allegations of racial harassment and intimidation.

"I think our athletic director, Ray Bonnell, has done an amazing job. He spent countless hours conducting interviews with people from Bremerton and North Mason and analyzing videos to find evidence to refute or support the claims that were made," Rosenbach told the Journal. "What we have determined is that there were really poor social interactions and poor sportsmanship on both sides and that behaviors of those involved violated our district civil conduct policy and we are going to take action to help our students and our spectators improve their conduct in the future."

The incident occurred on the steps leading up to North Mason High School. Bonnell does a beginning-of-the-season parent meeting and he is emphasizing the expectations of civility with parents, according to Rosenbach. He also holds a similar meeting with the athletes and Rosenbach said she hopes this is a "teaching moment."

"It's our goal as a district to create harmonious and supportive environments, free of fear and intimidation for our students, staff and visitors to our campus. That anybody felt that that wasn't happening is heartbreaking but I do want to say that Ray did a thorough investigation. We are responding appropriately with conversations with our parents and with our students to ensure that we are not a part of something like that again in the future, to ensure that people feel safe coming to our school."

The school investigated claims made about the incident, and Rosenbach said what the investigation confirmed "is that people were not behaving very nicely to each other, they were not behaving with civility on both sides."

"The parents who were involved took themselves out and didn't come to our last home game because they recognized that would be problematic so they stayed home," Rosenbach said. "In one case, missed their senior child's home game. So our parents kind of handled themselves on that and going forward, our athletic director meets with parents at the beginning of every season. He is emphasizing civil conduct in those meetings going into the winter sports seasons. He is also having intense conversations and setting expectations with all of our student-athletes. At this school, they will review civility with all of our students through our homerooms to make sure everyone understands we have expectations for how we treat each other at North Mason."

Rosenbach said there will be extra staff or security at winter sports games. When asked about what measures would be taken when Bremerton comes to Belfair for boys and girls basketball or wrestling, Rosenbach declined to comment.

"I think the two schools are working together and so when we get closer to that, we might have something different to say," Rosenbach said.

The Bremerton boys basketball team is scheduled to travel to Belfair to take on North Mason on Jan. 19, while the Bremerton girls basketball team is scheduled to play North Mason in Belfair on Dec. 13. The Bremerton wrestling team is scheduled to travel to Belfair on Jan. 18.