Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland: Antifreeze leak on MCPS bus transporting students raises concerns about maintenance, safety

Thursday, May 9, 2024

Antifreeze leak on MCPS bus transporting students raises concerns about maintenance, safety

Petition demanding investigation of Friday’s incident in Bethesda gaining traction

After a bus transporting Westland Middle School students malfunctioned and caused antifreeze to leak into the passenger cabin Friday morning, parents in the school community created an online petition demanding Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) address concerns around fleet maintenance, inspections and communication with parents.

As of the time of publication, the petition had 175 signatures.

The petition alleges that the students riding Bus 1113 to Westland Middle School in Bethesda “were subjected to a terrifying, traumatizing and nearly disastrous safety situation” when the engine in the rear of the bus malfunctioned and caused “eight gallons of highly pressurized antifreeze to be poured and aerosolized around the entire cabin, saturating everyone’s clothing, backpacks, and contacting skin and eyes.”..

https://moco360.media/2024/05/07/antifreeze-leak-on-mcps-bus-transporting-students-raises-concerns-about-maintenance-safety/

1 comment:

AnonymousMay 9, 2024 at 3:52 PM
There are quite a few of them transporting the students:
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/middle-schools/s-w/westlandms/uploadedfiles/homepage/wms---412---bus-departures-updated-oct-1-2023.pdf
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Principles

Formed in 2002, the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland seeks to achieve the goals of coherent, content-rich curriculum standards; high expectations combined with timely remediation and acceleration; a wider range of educational options for parents and children; greater transparency and accountability; and meaningful community input.

E-mail: parentscoalitionmc AT outlook.com

What The Washington Post said about the Parents' Coalition

The coalition might be the best-known parent advocacy group in the region. Its members represent several constituencies, including parents of special education and gifted education students and fiscal watchdogs. The group's defining victory came this school year when the school system scaled back the fees charged to families for course materials.

Coalition leaders have drawn attention to the misuse of funds collected from students for activities, the broadcast of a commercial radio service on school buses and, with their "Weast Watch" blog, the travel habits of Weast and his lieutenants.

The Washington Post, June 4, 2009

Jerry Weast on the Parents' Coalition

"Along the way, you’ve had a challenging relationship with the Parents’ Coalition, the network of citizen activists who use the political process and other means to hold MCPS accountable.

The thing people accuse me of is listening, but not hearing. I hear, but I do not always agree. I am sorry that the world is faster than it was 10 years ago. I did not do that. [But] if we do not keep up, then our kids will be behind. We have to stop whining and get real."

Bethesda Magazine, March-April 2011