Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Breaking News: Council MOLD Hearing for 1 MCPS School Thursday

You remember the County Council? The group that says:
 "The County Council's involvement with MCPS is largely limited to appropriating its funds." ~ Councilmember George Leventhal 
and does as little as possible to exert any oversight over MCPS.

Well, through some freak of nature (must be a Halloween trick) the Montgomery County Council's Education Committee has found a way to speak up.  Tomorrow, the Education Committee is holding a committee meeting devoted to ONE SCHOOL and ONE issue at that school!

Now take a look at the way the Council set up this hearing. Here was how the hearing was listed on the Committee's Agenda:

Discussion - School Facility Maintenance Policies and Practices

But, the meeting is going to be about one school's issue with mold.  Take a look at the packet that has been released for this meeting.  The Council is even permitting a parent from Rolling Terrace Elementary School to sit at the table for this discussion.

Other MCPS schools with mold issues? Where is your seat at the table?

Obviously, when the County Council wants to insert themselves into the operation of MCPS facilities they know how to do it.


11 comments:

  1. How many County Council members and state delegates live in Takoma Park where this school is located?

    Agnes

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  2. Phil Andrews is running for County Executive. Where is he? Why won't he speak out?

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  3. I am part of the school community in question at this meeting, and am disappointed at the bitterness in this blog post. I know we all would welcome more attention and countywide camaraderie on issues like this.

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    1. Will other schools with mold issues be represented at the hearing tomorrow?

      Great for RTES to have a hearing for their issue, but what about the other schools with mold issues?
      How will they be included in this discussion?

      Interesting that the topic for this meeting was never made public until the packet was released. There was no opportunity for any other school to ask for inclusion in this discussion.

      The Council continually says they are hands off on MCPS. For example: There has been no hearing for the Rock Terrace students. No hearing for Daly Elementary. No hearing for Charter School parents. No hearing for the 14 students that were sexually abused by a MCPS teacher. None of these parents have had a seat at the Council table for a hearing on their serious issues.

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  4. @6:46, I am THRILLED that the folks at Rolling Terrace got their issues before the council. What do the families at Rock Terrace have to do to get their issues heard? There have been letters, phone calls, etc etc. But Rock Terrace is a small school, and our so-called "Equity Warrior" superintendent doesn't seem to care about kids with disabilities. Waiting for the Council ED Committee to invite those families to have a "seat at the table" too. There's plenty in MCPS that needs to be fixed. I'll be glad to send a letter to MCPS requesting immediate mold remediation and a transparent plan to inform the community. Would you be willing to join the Rock Terrace families in requesting an independent forensic audit of Rock Terrace funds?

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  5. @ Anonymous October 23, 2013 at 5:31 PM: Good question. I like Phil and I, too, am puzzled as to why he doesn't speak out about a lot of issues, especially issues involving MCPS. As far as his run for county executive, it looks like he's campaigning for a job in the private sector at this point.

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    1. I agree. I am completely flummoxed. He is under the radar. I have spoken to people on his campaign and they say he is doing a 'door-to-door' campaign. That is well and good but as a council member he has a bully pulpit already. Why won't he use it? It is a shame. I have no idea where he 'stands' on any of the most important issues facing the county. I have no idea about any of his initiatives. Did he have any? I know, for example, that Councilmember Riemer is pushing the 'night-time economy' and more alcohol availability at restaurants. For Andrews, I don't know.

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  6. I am part of the community at Rolling Terrace working on this mold problem. We would like to reach out to other schools that have faced mold issues. Can any readers share suggestions?

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    1. Goshen is experiencing mold

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    2. Can you be more specific? What part of school? Classrooms? Has MCPS done anything about the mold?

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  7. I too am a parent of children who attend RTES. You touched on a very interesting reason as to why no other schools are being represented at the hearing tomorrow. It is because MCPS does not communicate to parents. Do you honestly think that they want anyone else to know about what is going on? They simply sweep issues under the carpet and hope that no one finds out about them. The only reason MCPS and the office of Mr. Song finally, after several requests from parents and weeks and weeks of ignoring our requests, decided to send the final Air Quality & Mold Findings report to parents at RTES is because Valerie Ervin was going to be at the school. The report was submitted late evening on the eve of her visit. Coincidence? I think not! We as a community could do more for our schools if school reps, whether that be PTA's or committees, communicated with one another about similar concerns or issues. You cannot blame RT parents for speaking out about our concerns and for demanding that they fix the problem immediately or at the very least try to find the main source of mold. To this day precious dollars are being spent to clean the surfaces and new outbreaks are occurring EVERYDAY, but the main source has NOT yet been identified! All this money could have been saved had they simply closed the school down for a few days after the Labor Day weekend. They would have had enough time to find the source and begin the clean up efforts, while students and staff were not there! Instead they are working around school hours and in some cases while kids are there!

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