2012 4th Ave N, Great Falls, MT 59401

My daughter experienced repeated bullying throughout her last school year at Giant Springs. On numerous occasions, she came home in tears after reporting the bullying to school staff, only to feel that her concerns had been brushed aside.The bullying became so significant that I had to pick her up early from school on multiple occasions because she no longer felt safe or emotionally able to remain there. When I brought these concerns to Principal Karla Miller, I expected compassion, support and a genuine commitment to protecting a child who was clearly struggling. Instead, I was met with a response that left my daughter as well as myself feeling dismissedRather than speaking with my daughter directly, Karla questioned the accuracy of what my daughter had reported to me despite the numerous documented incidents that had occurred throughout the school year. I left the conversation feeling as though I was being encouraged to doubt my own child instead of working together to address an ongoing problem. That experience permanently damaged my trust in the school’s leadership.I want to acknowledge that this school has many incredible teachers and support staff who genuinely care about their students. Unfortunately, those positive experiences could not outweigh what I experienced from the administration. The lack of empathy, poor communication and failure to meaningfully address repeated concerns ultimately caused me to lose confidence in the school’s leadership.One particularly concerning incident involved my daughter’s teacher providing my personal cell phone number to another student without my knowledge or permission. Combined with the administration’s handling of the bullying, this further reinforced my belief that our concerns were not being handled with the level of care they deserved.I am sharing this experience not out of anger, but because I hope it leads to reflection and meaningful change. No child should come home crying because they feel unsafe at school and no parent should leave a meeting with school leadership feeling as though their child’s voice has been discounted. I sincerely hope Giant Springs uses this feedback to improve its response to bullying and its communication with families so that no other parent or child has to endure what we experienced this year.