County Executive Marc Elrich Refuses to Answer Question about Ventilation in MCPS Buildings Currently Being Used by the Public, Teachers, and Students

 

Today, County Executive Marc Elrich held his weekly COVID-19 briefing.  I signed up to be on the Zoom call and was admitted to the meeting.  

In the past, when briefings from the County and MCPS were held I was able to attend in person and ask questions.  However, today's briefing was on a Zoom call and County Executive Marc Elrich used that platform to prevent me from asking a question.  When my turn came up, my name was skipped over and the meeting was soon ended. My microphone was muted by the moderator. I could have submitted my question in writing, but that option was not permitted either. 

Based on the Twitter thread from ventilation researcher Lisa C. Ng, I prepared a question related to the evaluation of ventilation in Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) buildings that have been, and are currently being used by the public (cooling centers and day care centers), MCPS administrators, MCPS teachers, and MCPS students.  

Here is the question I was not permitted to ask:

Public schools are being used by the public for day care and cooling center. Seneca Valley High School is open to staff to teach from classrooms, and SVHS seniors will be in the building starting tomorrow for their senior pictures to be taken.  Now that MCPS school buildings are open to the public, staff, and students what criteria has been established to determine if a school or classroom is safe?   Has there been an evaluation of the ventilation in all school buildings that are in use now?  Thank you.  

Janis Sartucci