Julius West Middle School evacuated due to carbon monoxide leak

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) — Officials said Julius West Middle School in Rockville was evacuated following a carbon monoxide leak on Monday.

In a post on the X platform, Pete Piringer with the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services said crews were called to the middle school on Great Falls Road around 11:30 a.m. for a carbon monoxide alarm...

 https://www.dcnewsnow.com/news/local-news/maryland/montgomery-county/julius-west-middle-school-evacuated-due-to-carbon-monoxide-leak/

MCPS Math: $3.7M + $1.3M = $4.9M Do The Math. It Means MCPS had to Pay $161K for the MSI Artificial Turf Fields

Let us start with a bit of history.

Montgomery Soccer, Inc. (MSI Soccer) sued the Montgomery County Board of Education because they said the MCPS Bid Process was "highly irregular and rife with conflicts of interest, false statements..."

The case did not go to a trial, instead the Board of Education reached an out of court settlement with MSI Soccer that gave MSI Soccer the use of 3 school fields in exchange for MSI Soccer paying for the installation of artificial turf at each of those schools.  

On May 2, 2017, the Montgomery County Council approved the appropriation of a $4.9 million contribution from MSI Soccer to pay for the 3 artificial turf fields.  

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/Resources/Files/res/2017/20170502_18-787.pdf

On April 24, 2018, the Montgomery County Board of Education approved a contract for the installation of the artificial turf football field at Whitman High School.

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/AXVPH464979A/$file/Award%20Cont%20Install%20Turf%20Walt%20Whtiman%20HS.pdf

On June 12, 2018, the Montgomery County Board of Education approved a

contract for the installation of artificial turf fields at Einstein High School and

Julius West Middle School. 

https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/mcpsmd/Board.nsf/files/AZEH84473086/$file/Award%20Cont%20Turf%20Install%20Julius%20West%20MS%20Albert%20Einstein%20HS.pdf

Now do the MCPS math:

$1,344,000 + $3,717,579 = $4,900,000

If that doesn't add up then that means that the Board of Education had to kick in $161,579 to pay the difference between what MSI Soccer contributed to these fields and the actual cost of installing these 3 plastic fields. 

Didn't the Board of Education just vote to not install water bottle filling stations at all middle and high schools because they had to make "trade offs" in the budget and they couldn't afford the $200,000 for the water stations?  

Here's the trade off:  Artificial turf for MSI Soccer instead of water bottle filling stations at middle and high schools. 

Whitman HS Student Athlete Says: MCPS: Stop building more turf fields like ours #artificialturf

“And the field takes another victim!” 

For my soccer teammates and me, this joke has become all too colloquial at every home game. But as we waited two months for Whitman’s new turf field to open last fall, did we expect to be cracking that joke multiple times per game? Definitely not.

 The turf field was supposed to be state-of-the-art, made with a different material than older turf fields with “cancerous” black pellets at schools like Walter Johnson and Wootton. Whitman isn’t the only school that has this type of turf field; B–CC, Wheaton, Richard Montgomery and Einstein all have relatively similar surfaces...

...MCPS officials recently tested Whitman’s turf field and found that its surface is outside the FIFA range for the degree of friction and “too smooth” for FIFA standards — leading to athletes slipping, sometimes resulting in injuries. FIFA is the international organization that makes rules for soccer, whether for the World Cup final or a youth soccer game. I understand the “smooth” standards may be different for soccer than for other sports that play on the turf field, but I also know that other athletes still slip and fall on the surface of the field too.

Also, when it’s hot and humid outside, dust from the sand in the turf rises in the air. There’s a potentially toxic chemical called silica in the infill of the field, which rises from the turf surface. Symptoms of silica poisoning include shortness of breath, coughing and rapid breathing...

https://theblackandwhite.net/66448/opinion/mcps-stop-building-more-turf-fields-like-ours/

Draft MOU for MSI Soccer's Take Over of Public School Playground at Julius West Middle School

Note:  Montgomery County's Noise Ordinance calls for quiet hours to begin at 9 PM on weeknights and on weekends quiet hours end at 9 AM.  MSI Soccer wants to use these stadiums until 9:45 PM on weeknights and start games at 8 AM on weekends.  

***

MEMO from City of Rockville on OCTOBER 7, 2019
PUBLIC HEARING
regarding the MSI take over of Julius West Middle School playground.

   Julius West Middle School memo by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

MANDATORY REFERRAL

   Julius West Middle School Mandatory Referral by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

DRAFT MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

   Julius West Middle School Draft MOU with MSI Soccer for take over of public playground by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

PUBLIC HEARING: Artificial Turf Stadiums at Julius West Middle School. Mayor and Council of Rockville, Maryland, will conduct a public hearing on Monday, October 7, 2019, at 7:00 p.m #artificialturf #heatislands #climatechange

September 26, 2019 Julius West Middle School stadiums

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICES
NOTICE OF HEARING

Notice is hereby given that the Mayor and Council of Rockville, Maryland, will conduct a public hearing on Monday, October 7, 2019, at 7:00 p.m., or as soon thereafter as it may be heard, in the Council Chamber, Rockville City Hall, 111 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, Maryland, in connection with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)  regarding the use of the lighted artificial turf fields at Julius West Middle School (JWMS), located at 651 Great FallsRoad.

The MOU is proposed to address a condition of approval of Mandatory Referral STP2018-00340. MCPS and the City of Rockville have created the draft MOU to monitor the impacts associated with traffic, parking, noise, and lighting, and to set the hours of operation. The MOU is also to include joint mitigation measures addressing future impacts that may arise in the areas of traffic, parking, noise and lighting.

The public hearing will be held on Monday, October 7, 2019. The meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. The agenda and briefing materials will be available beginning Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at the following link: https://www.rockvillemd.gov/AgendaCenter/Mayor-and-Council-5.

More detailed information on the above application can be found on file in the City Clerk/Director of Council Operations Office at Rockville City Hall. Persons wishing to testify at the hearing are asked to call (240) 314-8280, before 4:00 p.m. on the day of the hearing to place their names on the speakers' list.

Mayor and Council of Rockville

By: Sara Taylor-Ferrell, City Clerk/Director of CouncilOperations

Alert: the Julius West Middle School field lights will be tested on September 26th starting around 7:30 pm and will run as late as 10:00 pm. The test is to check operations and light levels.

Alert: the Julius West Middle School field lights will be tested on September 26th starting around 7:30 pm and will run as late as 10:00 pm. The test is to check operations and light levels. @Rockville411 @james4rockville @RockvillePatch

— Lyda Astrove (@LydaAstrove) September 26, 2019

There. Is. No. Plan. For. Bathroom. Facilities. for Julius West Middle School Artificial Turf Soccer Stadiums #MSISoccer #HoldIt #Trees

News! You know the new mega-fields at #JuliusWest? Where they are planning for a couple hundred folks at a time using the new #artificialTurf fields? There. Is. No. Plan. For. Bathroom. Facilities. Gotta go? Too bad!!! ⚽️🚽🚽🚽🚽🚽

— Lyda Astrove (@LydaAstrove) September 19, 2019

Weds Sept 18 at 6:30pm at #JuliusWest MS. Meeting on use of mega-field, stadium lights, noise, trash, security, parking, bathrooms. ⁦@Rockville411⁩ #artificialTurf. Be There!

Weds Sept 18 at 6:30pm at #JuliusWest MS. Meeting on use of mega-field, stadium lights, noise, trash, security, parking, bathrooms. ⁦@Rockville411⁩ #artificialTurf. Be There! pic.twitter.com/S1dT9DQ2LV

— Lyda Astrove (@LydaAstrove) September 16, 2019

‘Why don’t we get the field?’: Use of playing field pits an elite private school against D.C. public schools

An elite private school has been granted special access to a public playing field in Northwest Washington in exchange for funding upgrades to the site. But the deal with D.C. officials has some residents and politicians calling foul on a move they say shortchanges public school students.

The deal between the Maret School and the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation allows Maret exclusive use of the field at the Jelleff Recreation Center during the hours of highest demand, 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., on weekdays for the next decade, according to Marjo Talbott, Maret’s head of school. In exchange, the school is spending about $950,000 to improve the turf field, add a fence and renovate the recreation center building, Talbott said.

In response, a coalition of public school parents, elected officials and area residents is petitioning Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) to reverse the deal...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/why-dont-we-get-the-field-use-of-playing-field-pits-an-elite-private-school-against-dc-public-schools/2019/08/31/5081b5de-ca5c-11e9-a1fe-ca46e8d573c0_story.html

In @mcps "Let's Play Ball!" is Let's Play with Urethane! #artificialturf #plastic #urethane

BCC High School artificial grass field installation.

Information sheet for Turf PU 1K

Community meeting about the impact MSI Soccer #JuliusWest #artificialTurf will have on neighboring @Rockville411 communities. Wednesday Sept 18 at 6:30 pm at Julius West MS, 651 Great Falls Road, #Rockville.

Community meeting about the impact #JuliusWest #artificialTurf will have on neighboring @Rockville411 communities. Wednesday Sept 18 at 6:30 pm at Julius West MS, 651 Great Falls Road, #Rockville. Qs? Call 240-314-1000 (Gary Mosesman) pic.twitter.com/k7wSuqlBc1

— Lyda Astrove (@LydaAstrove) August 28, 2019

See the Rocks that go Under the Plastic Football/Soccer Fields. #ArtificialTurf #HardasaRock

@MCPS @mocoboe construction has started on second #JuliusWest artificial field. Kids will be playing contact sports on a field of ROCKS covered by a thin plastic carpet of fake grass. #concussion #artificialTurf #Dangerous pic.twitter.com/HkKFSJvYqm

— Lyda Astrove (@LydaAstrove) August 11, 2019

FYI #JuliusWest basketball champions from 1969: @MCPS decided they no longer wanted the trophy you worked so hard for, and put it in a trash pile.

FYI #JuliusWest basketball champions from 1969: @MCPS decided they no longer wanted the trophy you worked so hard for, and put it in a trash pile. pic.twitter.com/vwOsqO4vys

— Lyda Astrove (@LydaAstrove) August 11, 2019

And yet @MCPS thinks it’s perfectly fine to leave a big pile of trash *next to* a dumpster and in plain view of the neighboring townhouses. (Note: Big trash piles attract rats!) @Rockville411 pic.twitter.com/9c89klXgxf

— Lyda Astrove (@LydaAstrove) August 9, 2019

Board of Ed Releases Only One Page of Three Page February Artificial Turf Report. Report Shows Whitman Got Taller Plastic Grass and ZEOFILL is Abrasive Infill.

Handwritten notations and highlighting have been added. 

The above page from a February Report on artificial turf infill was posted to the Board of Education's Agenda for the June 24, 2019, meeting (video of parent reporting on continuing injuries to athletes from Richard Montgomery HS artificial turf).

Also posted with this page of the Labosport Report was information from MCPS showing which field was referenced by each column of the chart.  We have made notations on the above Report showing which MCPS field the data refers to and what type of infill was used at each field.

Pages 1 and 2 of the Labosport Report were not made public.  

The Labosport Report shows that the Whitman High School artificial turf plastic grass is taller than the plastic grass installed at Richard Montgomery HS and Einstein HS.  The Report also shows that the Richard Montgomery HS infill is highly abrasive.  In addition, in the columns evaluating the ZEOFILL infill we see higher numbers for abrasiveness.

This Report shows that there is increased abrasiveness when ZEOFILL is used in the infill.

Why has the Board of Education been withholding this report from the public since February?  Students continued to use these fields even when the Board of Education KNEW there was a hazardous situation causing injury to students.

When will the Richard Montgomery High School artificial turf infill be REMOVED and REPLACED with a less abrasive infill?
 

Video: Elrich, Hucker, Rice, Floreen, Riemer, Katz and Navarro Voting to Install Plastic Fields at Julius West MS, Whitman HS and Einstein HS

MoCo Bd of Ed. Demands Zeolite, But Zeolite "degradation can cause dust which also poses a health risk."

High School Turf Fields Advisory Group Report: 

https://bellinghamschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/FinalRecommendationTurfFields.pdf

Residents Appeal Lighted Artificial Turf Fields at Julius West Middle School

 July 11, 2018

Maryland State Board of Education

200 West Baltimore Street

Baltimore, MD 21201

Re: Montgomery County Board of Education

To the Maryland State Board of Education:

This letter appeals the June 12, 2018, decision of the Montgomery County Board of Education (Local Board) to approve Agenda Item: Award of Contract – Installation of Artificial Turf Fields at Julius West Middle School and Albert Einstein High School. (Attachment A). The undersigned reside in Montgomery County, Maryland.

This appeal is made by Janis Zink Sartucci, Bonnie Clausen, Douglas Dull, Rosanne Hurwitz, Eileen Sherr, Carol L. Starr, Peter Lovell, and Jason Mitchell (Appellants) to the Maryland State Board of Education (State Board). The State Board has authority to hear this appeal pursuant to the Code of Maryland as outlined in Code Section 13A.01.05. The State Board can substitute its judgment for that of the County Board because this decision was arbitrary, unreasonable, and illegal. The decision was contrary to sound educational policy and is an abuse of discretionary powers. A reasonable mind could not have reasonably reached the decision reached by the Local Board.

Award of Contract – Installation of Artificial Turf Fields

The first “whereas” in the Local Board's Memorandum on this Action (Attachment A) states that this Action item is:

“in accordance with the settlement agreement with Montgomery Soccer, Inc.;

The Local Board's Action did not include the “settlement agreement” nor any details as to what this document may detail.

The fourth “whereas” in the Local Board's Memorandum on this Action states:

WHEREAS, The scope of the project at Julius West Middle School includes the construction of two fields, one full-size field and an additional smaller field, as well as the installation of lights;

The Memorandum does not contain any additional information.

No documents detailing the “scope of the project,” actual size of the fields, or details about “lights” were presented in the Local Boards Action item.

This Action item appears to involve the Local Board turning over public school land to a private entity. The terms of this alleged agreement are unknown to the public.

The Julius West Middle School site is contiguous with two Maryland State roads (270 and 189). This Action item also appears to involve the construction of “lights” of unknown specifications next to these two State roads.

Alleged Settlement Agreement

Appellants do not have access or information as to what is contained in the alleged Settlement Agreement.

The Local Board Action item did not include a Settlement Agreement and did not detail what the alleged agreement may contain. Local Board members were not provided with any of this information for their public deliberation of this Action item.

This transfer of public school land to this private entity has not complied with Maryland or Local Board procurement requirements and has not complied with Maryland law with regard to the disposition of public school land.

Appellants are concerned that the alleged Settlement Agreement may contain agreements that violate Local Board and State procurement laws and regulations, as the alleged Settlement Agreement is being put forth to transfer public school land to one private entity (Montgomery Soccer, Inc.). The transfer of this land to one private entity has not complied with public school procurement laws or regulations and is a violation of the trust given to Local Board with regard to public school land.

Julius West Middle School fields

Local Board did not review or approve any “scope” of work documents for the Julius West Middle School fields referenced in this Action item. Appellants do not have any information as to the size, location, or details regarding the field work that the Local Board allegedly approved in this Action item.

Included in the Local Board's Action is a reference to “lights” for the Julius West Middle School field. No plan for “lights” has been presented to the Local Board and Appellants are unable to determine what these “lights” will entail. Appellants are concerned that any “lights” installed on the Julius West Middle School field will impact one or both of the Maryland State roads that run contiguous to the Julius West Middle School property. In addition, Appellants are concerned that any “lights” installed will impact homes surrounding the Julius West Middle School property.

The Maryland State Department of Transportation, Office of Traffic and Safety reports that they have not been contacted about the installation of lights next to these State roads and have not reviewed the proposal. Appellants have serious safety and health concerns regarding the placement of “lights” next to these State roads. If these “lights” will impact the movement of traffic on these State roads the impact of this Local Board action could put the Appellants and public at risk of harm when using these State roads. The “lights” could also seriously impact the neighbors to this property and could diminish property values.

Maryland State Finance and Procurement Section 14-412 requires energy efficient outdoor lighting fixtures, but Appellants are unable to determine if this Local Board Action complies with this State requirement.

Conclusion

For the reasons stated above, Appellants requests that the State Board rule the Local Board's approval of this June 12, 2018, Action item to be null and void, and direct the Local Board to immediately halt the construction of artificial turf fields at Julius West Middle School and Albert Einstein High School.

MCPS will be Responsible for Maintaining and Replacing Two Artificial Turf Fields at JWMS. MSI will be Out After Installation. $20K Annual Maintenance on Taxpayers.

At the City of Rockville Planning Commission meeting, MCPS staff revealed that once the two artificial turf fields are installed at Julius West Middle School the ongoing maintenance and eventual replacement of those fields will be the resonsibility of Montgomery County Public Schools. 

Remember that MCPS says the annual maintenance of an artificial turf field should cost $10,000.

That means that MCPS has found an extra $20,000 a year for each year going forward to spend on the Julius West Middle School fields. 

MCPS staff told the City of Rockville Planning Commission that they currently spend $0 on maintaining elementary and middle school fields. 

The MCPS-MSI Soccer deal has MCPS giving up 1,000 of field use per year and paying $20,000 a year to maintain the two fields at one middle school.

Who made this deal and why did the Board of Education approve it?

MCPS and MSI are Planning to Blast the Intersection of 270 and Falls Road with Stadium Light. Impact on Drivers is Unknown. #Gambling @mcps @mocoboe

This is the lighting plan for the Julius West Middle School - MSI fields.

Google Maps Intersection of 270 and State 189 showing location of
where 10 stadium lights will be installed for private soccer club.

   MSI Soccer wants to put 10 Stadium Lights at the Intersection of 270 and Falls Road by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

...This means that between 700 and 800 street lamps would be needed to produce as much light output as the stadium lighting - for the MSI fields at Julius West Middle School #270 #FallsRoad @mcps @mocoboe

   Rockville Planning Commission Testimony WECA 18-04-04 by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd