There is something of a battle brewing over at the Herald Online over the naming of the new school "Wade King Elemantary." It's not just a two sided issue either, but rather multi-faceted.

On the one side, we see the school board with their decision to name the school after Wade King, one of the three youths who died in the Olympic Pipeline explosion. On this side, we also see Scott Ayers who seems to be taking a position that is less "Gee that's the best name ever for the school" and more a position that it is heartless and cruel to say anything other than that the name is acceptable, no matter what one thinks of it. He has declared the issue closed and refuses to discuss it further.

On the other side there are those who contend that the name was "bought" by Wade King's parents, though this is being denied by the other side, and I've seen no evidence that this is the case other than coincidental evidence. Then there are those who believe it is inappropriate to name the school after someone so young, and one who did not make significant contributions to society, but rather died tragically through negligence on the part of Olympic Pipeline and poor decisions made by his friend and him. Those in this camp are of a mind that the school should be named after those with significant contributions to society on their resume. A third group on this side of the issue asks the question, "If the school is named after Wade King simply because he died in the explosion, then what of the other two who also died in the same explosion?"

Of all the questions, points and objections on both sides of the issue, that last one is, to me, inarguable. If, and that's a significant if, the school is being named for that reason, then that's a legitimate question to ask. If there are other reasons for the naming, then they should be brought to light.

Now, we are treading in dangerous waters here. In no way do I want to cause pain or discomfort for the King family, and I do not want to minimize their loss. This is not about the King family, or about Wade King, so much as it is about the reasoning process undergone by those who made the decision to name the school in Wade's memory. Furthermore, this is not a private issue. Once the decision was made to affix Wade's name to a public building, it became a public issue, and all privacy concerns are laid aside. Tact and compassion, however, are still called for. And, inasmuch as this online forum is named "Eye On Whatcom," and this is an issue boiling up in Whatcom County, I believe it is reasonable to let people discuss it here.

Please be polite though. Any posts which violate common decency will be deleted.