Why are so many students moving to Orting?: Today So Far

• King County gave millions to programs to prevent youth violence. But little has been known about what happened after that.
• While cities like Seattle and Bellevue face declining enrolment, Orting doesn't have enough room for all its new students.
• What programs should be cut as schools face budget gaps?

This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for April 27, 2023.

Guns, money, restraining orders, felony charges, accountability (or lack thereof). There is a lot going on in Ann Dornfeld's latest story on the relationship between King County and the community organizations it funds to prevent youth violence.

There's too much to cover here, so I'm just going to give you a peek, based on the intro to the story.

Khalid Adams, 39, burst into his ex-girlfriend's home last November, where he forced his ex's new boyfriend to lay on the floor while he held him at gunpoint. It was a tense situation. What Adams didn't know was that an 18-year-old boy was hiding behind a nearby bed, with a gun. That boy took action, fired upon Adams, and wounded him. Adams is now in King County Jail.

Adams' dayjob was at Community Passageways, which receives funds from King County. He worked as a "violence interrupter." The organization is dedicated to mentoring young people, and providing an alternative to youth incarceration. Addressing violence and crime outside of a court is a big part of the effort. That's where a violence interrupter helps. Yet, despite this role, Adams had a restraining order against him at the time he kicked in his ex's front door with a gun. KUOW found a few other staff members with similar orders.

And that 18-year-old boy who fired the shots — he was a participant in Community Passageways' programs, where Adams worked to prevent youth violence.

The situation is not isolated to this one incident from last November. Dornfeld reports that the county has slated millions to fund these organizations, yet it doesn't monitor how successful they are or who is being hired to work with youth. The county has only recently started requiring the groups to keep some records indicating who they are helping. Read the full story here.

Washington's school districts are facing a lot of challenges these days, but those challenges vary.

Seattle, Bellevue, and other nearby school districts face declining student enrollment. In turn, that means a decline in funding. Seattle alone needs to fill a $131 million budget gap. About 42 miles away, out past Puyallup, is Orting, Wash., where schools are scrambling to tackle another mounting challenge — too many students.

Over the past three years, Orting has experienced a 20% rise in student enrollment. That's significant for a small town of about 9,000ish people. Of course, that number is based on the 2020 population count, before the pandemic prompted many folks to move beyond big cities for more room and affordable living. Orting's elementary school is now relying on portable buildings to accommodate the load. It also converted part of its gym into a classroom. Despite not having the same problems as the Seattle area, Orting is also seeking millions. In its case, it wants $150 million to build more school buildings.

There's a similar story in Sumner and Bonney Lake. It's hard to track down answers around this issue, but KUOW's Sami West has done a great job rounding up a few. For example, she reports a "healthy migration" from King County to Pierce County in recent years. Check out the full story on Orting and local school challenges here.

Again, the education story in cities like Bellevue is completely different. The challenge here is deciding which schools to close down, and which programs to cut. Bellevue needs to find $31 million to cover its funding shortage.

Nearby in Shoreline, there's a $12 million shortfall. The big question that many of these districts are asking is: What programs do we cut? That usually means the arts and other skilled programs. So far, it seems that such programs are safe. That also means, however, that there are a lot of jobs on the chopping block. Soundside recently covered this issue here.

AS SEEN ON KUOW

Chris Morgan holds a recently captured 10-foot Burmese python in South Florida. In the Florida Everglades, the Burmese python is an invasive species that's close to triggering an ecological collapse. But not if these python hunters have anything to do with it. (Courtesy of Paul Bikis)

DID YOU KNOW?

When the United States entered World War I, it needed training camps for its many new soldiers. Camp Lee in Virginia was one such place. Given its location, the Army decided to name it after Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Today, the U.S. military is making a series of name changes to sites, ships, etc. bearing Confederate names. Fort Lee is no more. Its new name, as of today, is Fort Gregg-Adams — named after two Black officers who made military history.

Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg enlisted in 1946 and served at Fort Lee for many years as an instructor at the Quartermaster Leadership School. Despite the Army desegregating, he was denied entry to the officer's club on the base, considered "whites only." Gregg advanced in rank through Vietnam, Europe, and various U.S. bases. He attained the rank of lieutenant general in 1977. Upon hearing of the base being renamed after him, he told NPR, "I had a very strong connection with Fort Lee, which is clearly one of my favorite posts in [the] Army, and I was very happy and very honored."

Lt. Col. Charity Adams joined the military before women were an official part of the Army, as they are today. In 1942, shortly after the United States entered WWII, she joined the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and became the highest-ranking Black woman during the war. At age 25, Adams commanded the 6888th Central Post Directory in England and was responsible for handling the mail of more than 7 million soldiers throughout Europe. After the war, she went back into education and eventually became dean at Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State College and Georgia State University. She also founded the Black Leadership Development Program, aimed at developing Black community leaders.

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