State Superintendent decries executive order

In a Feb. 6 press release, State Superintendent Chris Reykdal strongly condemned President Donald Trump’s executive order, signed on Feb. 5, banning transgender girls from participating in girls’ and womens sports’ and deny federal funds to schools that allow such participation.

Trump’s order, said Reykdal, “directly contradicts state law, including the Washington Law Against Discrimination, and our laws prohibiting discrimination in our public schools.”

Reykdal said that the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is now working with the state’s Attorney General’s Office “to understand the next steps for our state and for our local school district in response to this unlawful order.”

“Washington state will do everything in our power to defend the rule of law, states’ rights to establish education policy, and to protect the beautiful diversity of our 1.1 million students and educators,” Reykdal said. “We believe in inclusion over discrimination, and love over hate.”

Read Reykdal’s full statement at tinyurl.com/y35er9dv.

In related news, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA), a nonprofit organization and rule-making body governing interscholastic sports in Washington’s public and private middle and high school schools, will vote in April on two proposed amendments to its rulebook that would affect transgender student in school athletic programs statewide.

One amendment would stipulate that participation in girls’ sports be limited to students assigned female at birth, and another would decree that athletic programs would be offered separately for boys, girls and another open division for all students including transgender students.

A WIAA document summarizing the amendments, at tinyurl.com/2fv7rnp5, includes a caution that adopting the amendments could spark legal challenges.

Read the Vashon School Board’s statement opposing the WIAA amendments at tinyurl.com/yew7kbpx.

Compost project timeline delayed

A schedule updated last month by King County pegs the completion of a project to expand composting on Vashon for around April 2029.

That’s a delay from estimates late last year by the county.

The King County Council in 2023 set aside around $5 million to build an organic processing facility on Vashon and expand the composting collection area of the island’s recycling center, fertilizing efforts to reduce waste on the island.

The project, which will be managed by King County Solid Waste Division, will build an organics processing facility to be operated by a third party. When finished, the facility will give islanders a dedicated place to take organic waste, such as food scraps and yard debris.

Securing funding for the project was the culmination of years of work by Zero Waste Vashon, an all-volunteer non-profit that has spearheaded the effort to expand composting on Vashon, and its partners in King County.

The county estimated in late 2023 that it would issue a request for proposal for the project in 2024 and begin construction on the facility in early 2026, with operations beginning there later that year.

The county’s updated project website gives specifics on both the processing facility and the collection area projects. The timeline for the former now anticipates striking a deal with an operator in mid-2025, with the project completing in 2029.

The latter — the project to improve organic material collection — should finish sooner. The county estimates finishing that project by late 2027.

Public meetings

The following taxing districts, government bodies and citizen groups have civic meetings coming up:

• Vashon Island School District’s next board meeting begins at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 13 at Chautauqua Elementary School, Room 302, 9309 SW Cemetery Road. Visit vashonsd.org for more information.

• Vashon Health Care District’s next board meeting is at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at the Vashon Presbyterian Church (17708 Vashon Hwy SW) and on Zoom. Visit vashonhealthcare.org for more information.

• Vashon Island Fire & Rescue will hold its regular board meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 26. Visit vifr.org/events for more details.