@ABC7News FLOODING AT WHEATON HIGH SCHOOL: A sprinkler burst for what is believed to be weather-related reasons Tuesday morning in a stairwell at Wheaton High School in Silver Spring, forcing the building to be evacuated.

FLOODING AT WHEATON HIGH SCHOOL: A sprinkler burst for what is believed to be weather-related reasons Tuesday morning in a stairwell at Wheaton High School in Silver Spring, forcing the building to be evacuated.

(📹: @__chris_torres) pic.twitter.com/ZcNnaV5SOI

— ABC 7 News - WJLA (@ABC7News) January 22, 2019

 https://wjla.com/news/local/wheaton-high-school-sprinkler-head-burst?fbclid=IwAR12qZ7uBJrgRJg6Hji1RymCTNN1FyW8Op7BIUPaO0uQXtuokEhdzF16gb8

@MikeOzanian - Montgomery County School Board lied about disposal of artificial turf field

Montgomery County School Board lied about disposal of artificial turf field https://t.co/gpmuVO33Kn

— Mike Ozanian (@MikeOzanian) July 27, 2018

MCPS Top Salaries $150,000 - $175,000 including Top Principal Salaries, Union President and Internal Auditor (School accounts)

These charts do not include benefits and perks.
First column shows salary for employees on spreadsheet. Example: $275,000 is base salary for Jack R. Smith.
Consultants are not included on these charts. 

MCPS Staff Says Cell Tower was Approved in 2007 and Infers that 2007 Approval Applies in 2017 #NeelsvilleMiddleSchool

Base of cell tower on MCPS playground.

On June 8, 2017, a parent and community meeting was held at Neelsville Middle School to discuss the application by a cell tower vendor to build a cell tower on the school's field.

MCPS Real Estate staff member Boyd Lawrence began the meeting by announcing that a cell tower for Neelsville Middle School had been approved by former Superintendent Jerry Weast back in 2007. During the course of the meeting, Mr. Lawrence would bring this point back up as if that prior approval was still valid in 2017.

There are just a few problems with Mr. Lawrence's reference to a cell tower approval by Jerry Weast ten years ago.

First, the proposal for a cell tower back in 2007, was for a cell tower that was 83 feet high.  The recent proposal for a cell tower at Neelsville Middle School is for a cell that that was 150 feet high.

Second, the 2007 application was made by Sprint-Nextel, while the recent application was made by Verizon.

The height of the cell tower is an important fact in the recent application as the proposed location of the cell tower would put it close enough to the school so that in the event the cell tower were to fall over, it would land on the school building.  The area around a cell tower where the tower could fall is known as the fall zone and is one of the construction features reviewed when a cell tower is proposed.

Video of the entire public meeting is below and you will hear multiple references to the 2007 application as if the cell tower then was the same one that was being proposed this year.  Toward the end of the meeting you will hear the vendor's representative divert attention from the 2007 application drawing that was enlarged on the screen.  Obviously, MCPS and the vendor did not want to point out that the 2007 drawing was for a different cell tower from a different vendor.  That fact was not revealed to the public at this meeting.

At the end of the meeting the Neelsville Middle School PTSA voted unanimously to oppose the construction of a cell tower on the school's field.

NEELSVILLE PTSA: OPPOSITION TO PROPOSED CELL TOWER ON NEELSVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOL PROPERTY @mcps @mocoboe

  Neelsville PTSA Press Release and Update on Cell Tower 2017-06-13 by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

Almanac: Potomac Elementary School parents vote to oppose move to Radnor school during construction.

Members of the Potomac Elementary School PTA voted Monday night, May 15, to oppose the choice of Montgomery County Public Schools to transfer Potomac students to the Radnor holding center during construction of the new PES.

#The change is scheduled to take place at the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year and is expected to last until January of 2021.

#Ahead of the formal vote, several PES parents testified at the May 9 meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Education against the Radnor option. They also asked the board to review errors in communication between the MCPS and members of the school’s community.

#“… Having been involved in the discussions pertaining to the PES modernization project, we are disheartened and disappointed with the lack of transparency and the misleading information that is being used to make fundamental decisions about the project,” Zahra Raney, mother of two PES students, said before the board.

#Raney’s testimony continued with examples of what she considered questionable including distance and drive time from the current school location to Radnor, the option of keeping the current school operating during construction, cost estimates and design...

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2017/may/16/no-radnor/

Will Montgomery County Parks Join the Class Action Lawsuit?

...“The synthetic turf installed by FieldTurf in 2009 has been steadily breaking up for the past several years,” said Dr. Scott Penland, Cherokee Central Schools superintendent.  “It has an eight year warranty.  We asked them to come in a couple of years ago and address our concerns.  They did come and make some corrections, but did not attempt to fix the fibers that were breaking up.”
He added, “I found out that several other schools were suing FieldTurf because they knowingly installed a ‘faulty’ product at that time.”

Dr. Penland contacted attorneys involved in a larger class-action lawsuit who visited Cherokee.  “Once they saw it, they agreed to add us to the ‘class action’ lawsuit at no cost to Cherokee.  If successful with the case, the attorneys will get a percentage of the amount we are awarded.  It is a win-win for us.”...

https://theonefeather.com/2017/05/new-turf-being-installed-at-cherokee-lawsuit-filed/

Paint Branch HS & Gaithersburg HS Alert: The Latest FieldTurf Issue Is Nothing 1,000 Gallons of Glue Won’t Fix #FieldTurf #artificialturf #fooledUagain

 [This is the brand of artificial turf that was installed at Gaithersburg High School and Paint Branch High School.  You know, the old no bid favorite of the Montgomery County Council!]

...FieldTurf crews are dumping a thousand gallons of latex glue called Beybond on top of the Revolution fields. During a weeklong process, crews vacuum up all the crumb rubber and sand infill cushioning between the grass blades, pour on the glue, then re-apply the infill in layers.
FieldTurf documents sent to San Diego Unified in October 2015 by turf salesman Tim Coury blamed the issues on a polyurethane “breakdown on the backing” of the turf rolls. The topical glue remedy was described as “non-invasive,” and FieldTurf claims in the documents that testing so far indicated there was “no negative impact on drainage,” often a selling point for the company...

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/news/latest-fieldturf-issue-nothing-1000-gallons-glue-wont-fix/?utm_source=Voice+of+San+Diego+Master+List&utm_campaign=bea815ad5a-Morning_Report&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c2357fd0a3-bea815ad5a-84139409&goal=0_c2357fd0a3-bea815ad5a-84139409

Blair High School needs new artificial surface field

SILVER SPRING – Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission is having Montgomery Blair High School’s artificial turf field replaced after a retest showed the field was unsafe and within a year of the end of its useful life.
John Nissel, deputy director of operations, said the warrantee for the field managed by M-NCPPC is due to expire in August.
“It’s like if you buy a car and it wears out before the warrantee; it’s certainly not what you paid for,” said Nissel, referring to the field lasting seven years and four months...

http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/newsx/local/item/4905-blair-high-school-needs-new-artificial-surface-field

Pet resort says it was duped by top U.S. artificial turf company #FieldTurf #artificialturf

The resort claims that it was deceived by false advertising claims made by FieldTurf, the leading U.S. maker of artificial turf fields, and then blamed for the product's poor performance and persuaded to buy costly maintenance.

~~~~~~~~~~

A Minnesota pet resort claims in a new lawsuit that it was deceived by false advertising claims made by the leading U.S. maker of artificial turf fields, FieldTurf, and then blamed for the product's poor performance.
The class-action suit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court for Minnesota, is the fourth brought against FieldTurf since an NJ Advance Media investigation revealed that the company and its executives sold high-end turf for years after knowing it was falling apart and would fall short of advertising and marketing claims...

 http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2017/01/pet_care_business_says_it_was_duped_by_top_us_arti.html

N.J. soccer club accuses top artificial turf company of fraud

The owner of a New Jersey soccer facility claims in a new class-action lawsuit the leading U.S. maker of artificial sports fields, FieldTurf, repeatedly brushed off complaints about his failing field and told him conditions would improve over time.

The complaint, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for New Jersey, is the third proposed class-action to be brought by customers in the state against FieldTurf in response to an NJ Advance Media investigation that detailed potential fraud.

The investigation found FieldTurf and its executives for years earned ballooning profits as sales of its popular turf, Duraspine, skyrocketed, all the while knowing fields were falling apart and would not live up to marketing and advertising claims.

Despite warnings and candid internal discussions, FieldTurf officials kept selling Duraspine to cities, towns, school districts and private companies across the country, and never changed their sales pitches. The turf was phased out in 2012...

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2017/01/post_404.html

10 FieldTurf fields at high schools across Georgia failed. Georgia, athletic directors and coaches saw something strange going on with their FieldTurf artificial football fields.

ATLANTA - All across Georgia, athletic directors and coaches saw something strange going on with their FieldTurf artificial football fields.

“It would be like you walked through freshly mowed lawns. You’d have fibers all over you shoes,” says Carrollton High School Athletic Director David Brooks.



http://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/i-team/218016511-story

SPECIAL REPORT: Top turf company made millions selling faulty fields to taxpayers #mcps #FieldTurf #MCPSLOVESFieldTurf

Have you read this report yet? Have you watched all the videos in the article? Just insert MCPS and Montgomery County Parks into the article for a good read on what has gone on here in Montgomery County, Maryland.

You will never see this type of investigative reporting here in Montgomery County. Thanks to the New Jersey reporters who put together this comprehensive report on how Montgomery County public schools came to have defective artificial turf football fields at Richard Montgomery High School, Walter Johnson High School and Montgomery Blair High School. Those three football fields have now failed and are putting players at risk on a daily basis.

Here in Montgomery County we will have to wait for a catastrophic injury to a child or adult on one of these fields before any of our elected leaders will acknowledge this crisis. But no worries for MCPS, the legislature has protected MCPS will a cap on any damage claims. Does Parks have a cap on their liability for the Blair High School field? SPECIAL REPORT: Top turf company made millions selling faulty fields to taxpayers #mcps #FieldTurf #MCPSLOVESFieldTurf: Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Despite Failures, San Diego Unified Just Can’t Quit FieldTurf

San Diego Unified had at least six Fieldturf fields fall apart before the warranty was up, and two were replaced with the same defective product. Still, district officials have such confidence in the company, no other turf manufacturer has been allowed to compete for jobs within the district.


This is Part Three in our four-part series. Here’s where to find Part One and Part Two. 
Twenty artificial turf fields that once gleamed in the San Diego sun have quickly fallen apart over the last decade thanks to a defect.
The field failures have created dilemmas for school districts that tried to get replacements from FieldTurf USA under the manufacturer’s eight-year warranty. Often, schools were faced with the option of choosing a free replacement with the same defective material, or paying thousands of dollars more to upgrade to a non-defective product that would hold up as originally promised.
San Diego Unified – the region’s largest FieldTurf buyer – had at least two defective fields replaced with more of the same turf that failed...

Voice of San Diego scoured thousands of San Diego Unified documents and sought an interview with district officials to discuss the district’s FieldTurf history. Officials declined multiple interview requests and instead made defensive, misleading and at times outright dishonest claims by email.
For starters, Reed-Porter said district fields were replaced for free under warranty before they actually failed as a preventative measure.
“The FieldTurf fields in San Diego Unified did not fail. It would be inaccurate for you insinuate or report in your story,” she wrote Sept. 21. “According to FieldTurf at the time, the fields were beginning to show signs of wear, and might not last though (sic) the entire warranty period.”
That’s not quite what district and FieldTurf officials said in emails when $1.5 million worth of FieldTurf Duraspine turf installed in 2010 at Mira Mesa, San Diego and Morse high schools needed replacement after only four years...

 ...The district has had such confidence in FieldTurf over the years, no other manufacturer has been allowed to compete for the turf job. Public officials continue to argue FieldTurf’s superior product and warranty allows them to skip competitive bidding normally required by state law for public works projects.

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/news/despite-failures-san-diego-unified-just-cant-quit-fieldturf/

Buyer beware: Failing fields leave schools in Kansas and elsewhere in a bind

Football fields shouldn’t leave fake grass stuck to the shoes and clothes of players who have just finished a game.
But as Piper USD 203 in Kansas City, Kan., watched its high school field deteriorate, that is precisely what was happening.
Superintendent Tim Conrad recalled how the green fibers would fall out and stick to one’s skin.
“I could get down on my field and rub my hand on the field,” he said, “and my hand would be covered with this.”
In Kansas and across the country, fields like Piper’s — which cost schools several hundred thousand dollars to install — have degraded earlier than expected.
The product woes have left school districts in a bind as they figure out their best options to replace troubled turf. And though the fields are warrantied, the districts are walking away with very different deals.

Some — like Seaman USD 345 and Geary USD 475 — are paying upward of $300,000, while others have struck much cheaper deals or received free-of-cost replacements. At least one district in Texas collected $275,000 from the manufacturer, FieldTurf, in a settlement in 2013.

At issue is a product sometimes called Duraspine. For several years, FieldTurf purchased the fiber for it from a third party that it eventually sued and blamed for field failures across North America. The parties settled mid-trial for an undisclosed amount.

Now FieldTurf faces legal challenges in multiple states, with some attorneys arguing the company is backing out of its warranties. Moreover, they accuse FieldTurf of knowing the material was flawed by 2009 or earlier yet continuing to install it.

FieldTurf defended itself Friday in a statement to The Topeka Capital-Journal...

http://cjonline.com/news/2016-09-10/buyer-beware-failing-fields-leave-schools-bind#

Breaking: MCPS Re-Tests WJHS Field, Field and Track Still Deteriorating and Dangerous #GMAX

In response to the August 16, 2016, Forbes article that exposed the concussion risk on the Walter Johnson High School artificial turf field from dangerous GMAX (hardness of field) readings, MCPS re-tested the field on August 25, 2016.

However, as noted by the company that ran the test, MCPS had tons of crumb rubber dumped on to the Walter Johnson HS artificial turf field the very day of the new GMAX testing.  

Of course the GMAX readings improved from the previous test on July 11th.

The new GMAX report still describes a field that is dangerous, overused (and this is before BCC football was added to the field for this year) and in need of repair and/or may need replacement during the warranty period.  
 

August 25, 2016, GMAX report on Walter Johnson High School artificial turf field.

The new readings still show GMAX numbers that are not acceptable, even by FieldTurf's own standards. 

In 2009, FieldTurf made this video about artificial turf safety and stated that their fields maintain GMAX ratings of 120-180 for the life of their warranty.  The WJHS artificial turf field still has readings over 180, even after tons of crumb rubber was added the day of the most recent GMAX test.

NBC4: Tests of Condition of WJHS Field Spark Concerns

Crumb rubber turf athletic fields are located at many schools, but one field in particular is raising concerns in Montgomery County, Maryland, due to its condition.

Parents are worried about sections of the football field at Walter Johnson High School that appear to have become damaged and degraded. 

Members of the Montgomery County Civic Federation said they spent considerable effort getting information about the condition of the field through Maryland's Public Record Laws. They said the results were worse than they expected, and they're worried it might not provide sufficient cushioning on impact.

Maintenance records, which included impact testing, were also sought through public records laws.

"We found that some sections had potential for injury levels that tested higher than the maximum recommended by the NFL," said Bailey Condrey, with the Montgomery County Civic Federation.

The artificial turf on the football field was installed in 2010 and made by a company called FieldTurf. 

In a statement to Forbes magazine, which first reported the story, the company said, "FieldTurf is committed to the safety of every athlete that plays on each of our more than 7,000 fields. We stand behind the testing and safety of the fields."

The company also said Walter Johnson High School's field does meet industry safety standards for shock absorption. Some school systems around the U.S. have sued over the degradation of their fields.

Source: Tests of Condition of Crumb Rubber Turf Field Spark Concerns in Montgomery County | NBC4 Washington http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Tests-at-Montgomery-County-Field-Spark-Concerns-393195221.html#ixzz4K9Spnxj6
Follow us: @nbcwashington on Twitter | NBCWashington on Facebook

ABC7: Are Montgomery County synthetic turf fields safe for play?

BETHESDA, Md. (ABC7) — Concussions, fractured skulls, broken bones, even death: these are the concerns a trio of civic organizations have raised about the synthetic turf field at Walter Johnson High School.
In 2010, crews installed the faux grass field at the school located roughly half-a-mile east of the Montgomery Mall. However, over time, activists contend the synthetic grass has shed, effectively reducing the once thick green blades to short stubble.

http://wjla.com/news/local/turf-field-issue

Construction Crews Scrambling to Finish Julius West MS Renovations

The first day of school is Monday, August 29, 2016 and many are wondering if Julius West Middle School will really be ready.
On Wednesday morning, a Rose Hill resident, out for her morning walk, commented about the sudden last-minute construction on the driveways which she said, “Didn’t start in earnest until three weeks ago. They were even out on Sunday working.”

During this week of preparation she noticed teachers parking in her neighborhood. “I don’t blame them.” she said...

http://www.rockvilleview.com/construction-crews-scrambling-to-finish-jwms-renovations/

Public Invited: MD State BOE and Gaithersburg to Tour PG School that Cost 1/3 of what MCPS Spends

Notice to the general public is hereby given that members of the Gaithersburg City Council and City staff plan to meet with members of the Maryland Board of Education on Monday, August 29, 2016 at 10 a.m., to tour the Monarch Global Academy, 430 Brock Bridge Road, Laurel, Maryland 20724.

The tour will show an example of school construction whose costs were roughly 1/3 of what Montgomery County Public Schools are currently paying to construct similar sized schools.

The public is invited to attend, but we ask that attendees notify staff in advance as space is limited and transportation will not be provided. Please contact the Staff Liaison, if you have questions.

http://www.gaithersburgmd.gov/news/legal-notices/2016/08/20160829-monarch-global-academy-tour