Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Washington Post: Concern about elevated levels of radon in Montgomery schools
With reports this week of elevated radon levels in 26 Montgomery County schools, parents and staff are urging swift action and more accountability about a problem that school district officials say they should have handled sooner.
Read the entire story at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/concern-over-elevated-levels-of-radon-in-montgomery-schools/2015/12/02/1bb3c7a2-9905-11e5-b499-76cbec161973_story.html
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Now that the WP got the cat out of the bag, they'll do something about it.
ReplyDeleteNope. Only if parents and guardians keep on top of this, otherwise it's forgotten. Lots of examples of MCPS making a lot of noise for the press and then dropping the ball months later. See the "Sexual Abuse of Students by Staff Work Group" that has now been dissolved without ever putting out a report or making a single recommendation. MCPS is already back to removing teachers without notification to parents and guardians. That's called passing the trash and it's back in force in MCPS.
DeleteAnd as an FYI- MCPS students are STILL playing on ground up truck tires even after the rest of the country is figuring out that there is concern over the use of this product on playgrounds and fields. Councilmember Hans Riemer loves crumb rubber and is happy his young children play on it. Don't assume that common sense ever comes to Montgomery County, MD. There will be no correction of the radon issues without parents and guardians devoting themselves to this following this issue for years to come.
Delete@ Anonymous December 3, 2015 at 9:19 AM - You have it wrong on so many levels...
DeleteFirst, Janis Sartucci is right, unless parents stay on top of MCPS and follow through by demanding actual verified Radon reports (past and future), along with verified remediation procedures (copies of contracts with Radon remediation companies, verified work orders and follow up testing), MCPS will drop the ball again. Each school’s PTA should immediately start a Radon committee in order to hold MCPS accountable and demand the above actions and reports.
As far as the Washington Post is concerned... They’re part of the problem. Ms. St. George receives a D minus (and I’m being kind) for her utter lack of investigative journalism. The only reason she and the Post picked up this story was due to the heroic efforts of parents and Parents’ Coalition, who, unlike the Post, do investigative work and demand answers. Also the Post was one of the LAST news outlets to run with this story.
And remember, the press NEVER ‘does something about anything.’ The only thing they may do is report the news. It is everyday citizens (hardly ever elected officials) that do the heavy lifting.
And lastly, I got a chuckle out of the statement. "WP got the cat out of the bag." With columnists like Jay Matthews, who admits to vetting his Op-Ed pieces with MCPS BEFORE publishing, it is folks at the Washington Post, who routinely put the cat back in the bag or never let it out in the first place.
I was been sarcastic . . .
Delete@10:54 AM: Of course, but unfortunately the vast majority of parents and guardians in Montgomery County do believe that MCPS administrators have the best interest of their children as their goal. That is simply not true, but parents and guardians do not realize this.
DeleteThe voters of Montgomery County will return the exact same Board of Education members to office next year that have allowed the radon levels to go unmonitored. There is no oversight of MCPS and there will be no follow up on the radon levels.
Remember readers, even after this was exposed, MCPS was still charging Louis Wilen over $300 for the existing radon reports! MCPS is still protecting what should be public information and keeping it from parents and guardians.
I wonder how much MCPS is already paying a hired legal team to advise them about this instead of using the money to take action.
ReplyDeleteWell a class action lawsuit by parents will be coming soon because I as a parent is not letting this issue go!
ReplyDeleteWith all the pending lawsuits the time is ripe to hightail out of this county before the taxes skyrocket!
DeleteNot sure if anyone is paying close attention but MCPS has yet to address what parents should do to check your child's health since 3 yrs of exposure is already in question.
ReplyDelete