PCMC Exclusive: MCPS document reveals that numerous schools are at risk of poor emergency responder radio coverage

An internal Radio Coverage Compliance report recently obtained from MCPS reveals that most MCPS high schools have not been subjected to testing for emergency responder radio coverage, leaving responders at high risk during emergencies.

Schools that have not been tested and do not have a "bi-directional" amplifier (signal booster) to ensure adequate signal coverage include Quince Orchard, Seneca Valley, Thomas Wootton, Walt Whitman and Winston Churchill.  In all, at least 16 high schools have not been tested for adequate signal coverage. One high school, Seneca Valley, is currently being tested for coverage at the request of the fire marshal.

Of the nine schools that were tested for adequate signal coverage, five needed bi-directional amplifiers before occupancy permits were issued.

In addition to the MCPS high schools listed in the report below, there are over 150 middle and elementary schools for which the emergency responder signal coverage is unknown to PCMC.

The current fire code requires that all buildings constructed since 2005 be tested for adequate emergency responder radio signal coverage before they are occupied. In addition, the fire code requires that boosters be added to every building (no matter how old) that the fire marshall determines has inadequate signal coverage. The Montgomery County public safety division has a policy of testing all commercial buildings over three floors or over 25,000 sq. ft. per floor for adequate coverage, including those constructed prior to 2005.  However, the county's public safety division has not applied that policy to MCPS schools.