Parents in Longview are lashing out at the local school board over its handling of allegations that two Mark Morris High School teens sexually assaulted fellow students. The boys, who were arrested on sexual assault charges last week, will be arraigned on Tuesday.

Community members excoriated Mark Morris Principal Aaron Whitright and members of the school board at a Longview Public Schools board meeting Monday night, calling for them to step down. Some noted that the principal seemed to downplay assault rumors instead of reporting them to police. Other speakers said the district had minimized incidents ranging from sexual assault to bullying to student injuries for years.

“This whole thing could have been handled differently,” said Crystal Moldenhauer, a former Longview School Board member who attended as a member of the public and said her son had been physically assaulted in a separate incident at Mark Morris High School on the day of the board meeting.

“At this point, if something doesn’t change, if policy doesn’t change, I will be pulling the rest of my children at the end of the school year,” she said.

Many parents said adults at the school district who are mandatory reporters — required to tell police or child protective services of any suspected assault of a minor — did not respond to the incident appropriately or fast enough.

Principal Whitright emailed parents on Feb. 7, warning of “false rumors” about the allegations. He sent the email days before a special election with a school district levy on the ballot, which later passed. Whitright wrote that the district had thoroughly investigated behavior reported by students and “given appropriate consequences.”

The following week, on Feb. 9 and 10, students walked out of class in protest and forced the allegations into public view.

The accused Mark Morris basketball team athletes were not arrested until Feb. 19, when they were charged with second degree rape, unlawful imprisonment with sexual motivation, indecent liberties with forcible compulsion, and indecent exposure.

Their names have not been made public by the district or local police, since all of those directly involved are minors. The city, police department, and district have also refrained from commenting on the incidents beyond issuing non-specific public statements, noting that the case is under active investigation by law enforcement.

It wasn’t just parents who said they had lost trust in the district during Monday’s meeting.

Former Mark Morris High School registrar Renee Messinger said she was sexually harassed by two councilors when she was employed by the district and was not given support when she spoke up.

“I was treated like I did something wrong because I brought it to light,” she said. “Other women in the district came to me and said that the same things were said to them by this person, but my boss didn’t want to hear about it.”

Public comments at Monday’s meeting culminated in a tearful response from school board member Barb Westrick, who broke meeting protocol to talk directly to the public. Westrick said she too had been sexually assaulted and bullied when she was in school.

“I just want you to know that if you think I don’t care, you’re absolutely wrong,” she said.

The two arrested students will be arraigned on March 3 in Cowlitz County Juvenile Court. The charges the boys face could change at the time of their arraignment.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/02/27/longview-washington-sexual-assault-charges/