There are 494 classroom trailers in use in Montgomery County Public Schools.
Over 10,000 MCPS students call these temporary structures "school" every day.
When a tornado, microburst, or derecho hits, how safe are the children in these trailers?
What if a student is changing classes or going to the main building to go to the bathroom when a tree limb falls? See below.
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| Damage from 2012 Derecho at Montgomery County Public School |
which school is this?
ReplyDeleteEach MCPS school has an emergency plan, including what to do in the case of severe weather emergencies. If there is a concern about students in a portable, would you also extend that to outdoor recess time and physical education classes that meet outside? Would you eliminate those activities as well?
ReplyDeleteReally? Students play outside during thunder storms? What school is that?
DeleteBut, students DO sit in classroom trailers during storms, and they DO walk to the main building in storms. If - IF - an emergency plan existed it should say to evacuate a classroom trailer when there is a threat of high winds. So, let's see, how do the students evacuate? Yes, by using the walk way shown above. Zero protection.
Brilliant emergency plan.
Clearly, student safety is last on the list of Board of Education priorities.
People inside or out are in danger during any type of storm. It is common sense not to let students outside (or to use an outside walk way) during a thunderstorm. Also, clearly there is no damage to the portable classroom trailer, which means the portables are meant to withstand the elements.
DeleteThe above 10:11 PM comment is clearly spam and should be ignored, except that the comment comes from someone who has claimed to be a MCPS union member in the past. Are MCPS employees really this uninformed and flat out wrong, or is this comment designed as propaganda to trick parents in to a false sense of security?
ReplyDeleteWhat "education" agenda is being promoted by giving parents information that is wrong? Aren't MCPS employees supposed to be "life-long learners?" If so, then they need to learn ASAP that classroom trailers are death traps, and that being in one during a storm is the same as being outside unprotected. Students DO need to be removed from classroom trailers before a storm approaches. Classroom trailers are NOT meant to withstand storms.
Get the facts. We did. Here's a link from the NOAA website:
http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2012/07/portable-classrooms-these-can-be-death.html