Will Bird Flu Close Down MCPS Bus Depots?

As bird flu is detected in more and more places in the United States, health officials are taking action.  In Massachusetts, bird flu testing has led to the closing of a park.   

What will happen here in Montgomery County?  

For example, the MCPS Shady Grove Bus Depot is covered with goose poop from the flocks of geese that live on top of the MCPS bus maintenance building.  If bird flu is detected at that location, will the bus depot be shut down?  The depot has goose poop on all of the pavement and stepping in goose poop is virtually guaranteed as staff and school bus drivers walk to their offices and onto their school buses.   

This is the same bus depot where feral cats are being kept by MCPS employees.  The feral cats live under the 4 office trailers used at the site for MCPS DOT Dispatch, Human Resources, Training and one trailer is the "lunchroom" for the MCPS bus drivers.   

Outrage in Olney over rape suspect's previous record

Parents complain rape suspect Joshua Black roamed the community virtually unsupervised despite convictions and escalating behavior

OLNEY, Md. — Accused rapist Joshua Black, 31, of Olney, Maryland, was ordered held without bail in Montgomery County Monday after prosecutors outlined Black's extensive record of sex crimes and allegedly sexually motivated stalking, trespassing and harassments.

Black is accused of raping a 14-year old girl in a wooded area of the Hallowell subdivision in Olney Thursday in what District Court Judge Sheri Koch described as a pattern of escalating criminal behavior...

..."We really should not have gotten to this point with this individual. He was never added to the sex offender registry. We have a registry for a reason," Stoddard said.

Stoddard said police were called to the Hallowell Community Pool on May 27 after teens, including his daughter, reported a man apparently masturbating while covered by a towel.

Black was cited for trespassing and banned from the pool, but did not face any sex crime charge under Maryland law, according to Stoddard, who complained that Black remained free to continue roaming the neighborhood on his bicycle despite his extensive record...

Olney community outraged over rape suspect's previous record | wusa9.com

It's a Miracle! Two @mcps Elementary Schools have ZERO COVID-19!! How did they do it? Are Great Seneca Creek ES and South Lake ES Telling the Truth? Spoiler: No.

 

Take a look at the Montgomery County Public Schools COVID-19 School Dashboard.  Order the school list by cases and scroll on down to the bottom of the list.

Look at that! Two elementary schools haven't had one single case of COVID-19 among staff or students! Great Seneca Creek Elementary ( approximately 538 students) and South Lake Elementary (approximately 790 students) have never reported a single case of COVID-19 among staff or students.  

How can this be?  What's their secret?

Their secret is that they aren't reporting.  The Parents' Coalition has learned that COVID-19 reporting is being suppressed at some schools.  Why would principals and school nurses suppress this information during a pandemic?  

How can school opening/closing decisions be made if the true impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is being suppressed by individual schools?  

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