Local schools' biggest problem is bulging classrooms, not violence

By JACK HOPKINS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Orting has escaped much of the tension and violence that have plagued more urban communities, says Sandi McChord, superintendent of the Orting School District.

"Many of the parents talk about having moved to Orting because they wanted to get to a community where it is safer for the children," she says. "We have a close-knit community and know all of our students."

McChord points with pride to the fact that while many school districts were experiencing bomb threats in the wake of the Columbine High School murders in Littleton, Colo., her district didn't have a single threat called in.

But rapid growth is bringing a different kind of problem to the school district. It had only 406 students in 1990. And it has 1,760 now. Schools are bulging at the seams.

"We're using 19 portable classrooms. And that makes it difficult to develop the kind of school climate that you would like to have," McChord says.

But plans are in the works for a new elementary school, and the district hopes to buy land for a new middle school within the next couple of years, she says.