Longview schools to create anti-hazing curriculum following MM case
Longview School District expects to receive the results of a third-party investigation into suspected sexual assaults at Mark Morris High School within the next several weeks and then take action on the recommendations made by the report's creators.
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That's what Superintendent Karen Cloninger told the board at its Monday meeting.
She said the district specifically asked Bothell-based law firm Haggard & Ganson to review the district's policies, procedures and practices related to student athletes.
The district isn't waiting until then to take action, she added. The schools are also creating an anti-hazing curriculum to be developed by a committee.
She did not say who would be on the committee.
Education for staff and students, as well as a component for parents, is crucial for such curriculum, she added.
The work, she said, would strengthen expectations for reporting and reinforce athletic team cultures.
"This is not a final step by any means," she said. "We do expect additional actions as we receive the recommendations from Haggard & Ganson."
Two Mark Morris teens are charged in Cowlitz County Juvenile Court with second-degree rape and unlawful imprisonment involving other Mark Morris students.
Police reports show victims said the defendants pulled them into a windowless boys' basketball locker room from around Thanksgiving to late January to perform such suspected assaults.
Mark Morris High School
Mark Morris High School on Sunday, Feb. 22 in Longview.
Complaints about Cloninger's contract extension
Jess Waldo is the creator of an online Change.org petition regarding the case, calling for "the immediate termination of any staff members who neglected their responsibilities and failed to act according to the law."
The petition had 757 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.
Waldo said at the Monday meeting that she can't afford to homeschool her kids or send them to private school, so she's forced to keep her children in Longview schools despite the recent sexual assault case, as well as police and internal investigations into staff's knowledge of the abuse prior to police intervention.
She questioned why no staff were on leave while investigations continued.
Cloninger's contract, she added, should not have been extended at the April 13 meeting without public comment.
The contract was unanimously approved as part of the consent agenda, which typically includes several items and is passed in one vote.
The contract extends Cloninger's term from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2029, according to school records. State law mandates superintendents' contracts do not exceed three years.
"You have had the opportunity to take measures to make families feel more comfortable through this investigation," Waldo told the board, "and you have not only ignored these things, but you went ahead and extended Karen's contract when you surely knew at the time of this meeting that this would be controversial."
Three other speakers were also upset that Cloninger's contract was extended. Speakers suggested the board intentionally hid the contract extension in the consent agenda to avoid public discussion.
Items on the consent agenda are listed in bullet points on the overall meeting agenda. The superintendent's draft contract changes were also included with the agenda online prior to the meeting.
School Board President Don Wiitala told The Daily News in an email that items considered "routine in nature" can be added to consent agendas to expedite business.
Anyone from the board could have suggested changing the consent agenda on April 13, but the majority approved it.
The board discussed Cloninger's contract in March during an executive session, he added. This is the time of year the superintendent's contract is reviewed annually, he said.
Another Longview parent called for Cloninger's resignation on Monday and for all district electronic records to be preserved.
Longview police report Cloninger may have deleted messages about the case on her personal cellphone and work laptop, according to recently obtained public records. However, Cloninger said that is not possible because the district has an automatic backup system to keep messages sent through district-issued accounts for 10 years, as mandated in its retention policy.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include information from the Longview School Board president.
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This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 12:38 PM.