School district aims to be ‘safe spot’ for students

The Moscow School District decided its staff should not discuss the recent Moscow murders in classrooms in order to keep school a “safe spot” for students, the superintendent said Friday.

Greg Bailey joined professionals from local health care, religious and academic organizations in a roundtable organized by the Latah Recovery Center. The roundtable participants talked about the resources available to community members who may be affected by the recent tragedy.

Bailey said the school district decided not to discuss with its students the Nov. 13 murders that took the lives of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle. The district will “watch the kids and listen to the parents,” Bailey said, but it wants to provide some normalcy to the students.

“I think that’s helped because we wanted to be a safe spot for them, because we knew some kids were going home and seeing that stress on their parents, and just giving them an option to just be a kid at the school.” he said.

The district does have nine counselors on staff available to those who need help, he said.

Cari Fealy, associate dean of students at the UI, joined the roundtable and spoke about how UI staff have pivoted to accommodate students finishing the semester at home as they deal with the trauma of the murders. She said faculty’s previous experience with teaching courses online through the early part of COVID-19 has prepared them for this.

Fealy said the effects of these murders will linger, and the university will have to figure out how to continue helping students.

“I think we’re still figuring out how the long-term effects of this are going to impact the students,” she said, “and we will just be there to make sure that they can continue in a way that makes the most sense to them.”

Bruce Pitman, who was at the roundtable representing First Presbyterian Church, said those effects will depend on progression of the crime investigation into the murders.

“I think the needs of the community are going to be influenced very dramatically by how the investigation unfolds and how the issues are resolved,” he said.

Doug Salada, a clinician at the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, has seen some clients struggle with feeling unsafe since the murders took place. He said people who have preexisting conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, are having a harder time dealing with their symptoms as a result.

Joyce Lyons, rural crisis response project manager for Public Health – Idaho North Central District, said everyone processes grief differently. That is why it is important for behavioral health professionals to “meet people where they’re at.”

Grief comes and goes in waves, she said.

“Grief doesn’t just stop,” she said. “It isn’t over in a year.”

Nathan Anglen, a counselor at Bridge Bible Fellowship in Moscow, said people are in shock right now and they may still be processing these feelings months from now. He said the community needs to come together to help them.

“I really am just so sure that it comes down to a community that is connected, that can channel people to the resources that make sense to administer to them,” he said.

No significant details were revealed about the murder investigation Friday. According to a Friday news release from the Moscow Police Department, detectives still believe it was a targeted attack, but have not concluded if the target was the King Road residence or its occupants.

Detectives are aware of a sixth person listed on the lease at the residence. They have spoken to this individual and confirmed they moved out before the start of the 2022-23 school year and were not present at the time of the incident. Detectives do not believe this person has any involvement in the murders, according to the news release.

On the night of the murders, there was an incident at Taylor Avenue and Band Field at 3:01 a.m. The incident was an “alcohol offense which was addressed by the on-scene officer,” according to Friday’s news release. The incident is not related to the murder investigations, the police said.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.