Two Mount Si High School students enrolled in Running Start at Bellevue College told the Snoqualmie Valley School Board Jan. 14 that they no longer felt safe following the Jan. 7 discovery that other Mount Si High School students, also in Running Start, had named them on a ‘hate list’ on a social media site.

All of the students involved in creating the list, of students they did not like, were expelled on an emergency basis from Mount Si and all of the students named to the list were informed, school officials said Jan. 8. Police are continuing to investigate the incident, but said they don’t believe there was a real threat to any of the students.

That’s little consolation, said a junior girl whose name was on the list, speaking to the school board about the incident.

“While there have been consequences in (the list-makers’) status as students at Mount Si, they are still able to attend Bellevue College. Consequently I still see them,” she said. “I have to deal with the extended eye contact from the students who created the list. It screams their lack of regret.”

Bellevue College spokeswoman Evan Epstein could not comment on the status of the students who made the list; their status has not changed yet as a result of the incident.

Epstein told the Record by phone last week “Right now, we really can’t speak to what the end decision will be…. We are working with the Snoqualmie Police Department because they are looking into it. We have not yet received any report from them.”

Neither school can provide information about the incident or the students involved, because they are ruled by students privacy laws. School and police officials did confirm that 50 student names were on the list. Mount Si High School Principal John Belcher also said he contacted neighboring school districts, who also had students on the list, and all of those students had been contacted, as well.

Little information has been given to students named on the list, either, which was another student’s objection to the school board.

The student, also named to the list said “I am not saying that nothing has been done, as both the administration and the Snoqualmie Police Department have taken steps, but I feel as if they are not sufficient. With the current state that the investigation is at, I still feel at risk for the simple reason that I have no knowledge as to what the true intentions of this list are.”

Both students asked the school board to do more about the situation. One suggested that all the students named on the list continue to get updates on the investigation and the other warned the board that “Failing to take action upon this will set a precedent that these actions are seemingly accepted.”

Epstein said to her knowledge, neither of the students who spoke to the school board had spoken to the Bellevue College Board about the incident.

The situation, she said, “is exceedingly rare,” so the steps it will take after receiving the police report are not certain.

In general, Epstein said Running Start students who are disciplined by their respective high schools, “wouldn’t automatically be expelled from Bellevue College, because they haven’t been through any student conduct process with us.”

“If the behavior is actionable, the school could also bring charges which would affect their status,” Epstein said. “We put student conduct up at the top of our list. It’s a priority for us that all of our students feel safe and welcome on our campus.”

Snoqualmie Police began the initial investigation of the incident, but are planning to turn the case over to the Bellevue Police, since the list was actually created on Bellevue College campus, said Snoqualmie Police Captain Nick Almquist. Any charges that result from the investigation would come from the Bellevue department.

Almquist noted that the list was simply a list of names with a heading. “It didn’t come with an actual threat.”

Bellevue College is a common choice for area students who enroll in Running Start programs. It is the third largest college in the state, with 11,000 full-time students and another 33,000 Running Start students. In 2015, the college awarded 1,536 associate’s degrees to students transferring to a four-year college, and another 487 associate’s degrees to students going into professional or technical fields.  The student body is also diverse, with an average age of 27, Epstein said, and about 55 percent of students in the 20 to 29 age range.