WTOP: Violence, mold, asbestos: Staffers at Montgomery Co. alternative school voice safety concerns

Teachers and staff at a building that houses two Montgomery County, Maryland, schools — which cater to students with additional needs — claim the school system is not doing enough to ensure students and staff have both a healthy and safe place to learn.

One half of the Blair G. Ewing Center on Avery Road in Rockville has been home to one alternative learning school known by staff as “Avery Road.” The school is one of three that serves students who have behavioral issues or other learning difficulties that require they be removed from their prior public school.

At the beginning of this school year, a second school, known as “Cloverleaf” in Germantown, relocated to the vacant side of the Blair Ewing facility. Two staff members who spoke with WTOP said they arrived to find mold and even warnings about asbestos.

“When we first came in, we had visible mold on ceiling tiles and walls and floors. We had leaks in some of the bathrooms that dripped and flowed down the wall when it rains,” said one teacher WTOP will refer to as “Teacher A.”..

Violence, mold, asbestos: Staffers at Montgomery Co. alternative school voice safety concerns - WTOP News