First Day of School: 13 More MCPS COVID-19 COMMUNITY NOTIFICATION LETTERS

Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Roberto Clemente Middle School

(August 30, 2021)

Dear Roberto Clemente Middle School Community, This letter is to inform you that we were notified that an individual who was last present at Roberto Clemente MS on Thursday, August 26 tested positi ...(more)

Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Lucy V. Barnsley Elementary School

(August 30, 2021)

Dear Lucy V. Barnsley Community, This letter is to inform you that we were notified that an individual who was last present at Lucy V. Barnsley on August 30 tested positive for the coronavirus (CO ...(more)

Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Highland View Elementary School

(August 30, 2021)

Dear Highland View Community, This letter is to inform you that we were notified that an individual who was last present at Highland View on August 26, 2021  tested positive for the coronaviru ...(more)

Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Montgomery Blair High School

(August 30, 2021)

Dear Montgomery Blair High School Families, This letter is to inform you that we were notified three individuals who were last present at Montgomery Blair High School on August 24, 2021 and August ...(more)

Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Briggs Chaney Middle School

(August 30, 2021)

Dear Briggs Chaney Middle School Community, This letter is to inform you that we were notified today than an individual who was last present at Briggs Chaney Middle School on Monday, August 16, has ...(more)

Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Pine Crest Elementary School

(August 30, 2021)

Dear Pine Crest ES Community, This letter is to inform you that we were notified today that an individual who was last present at Pine Crest ES on August 27, 2021, tested positive for Coronavirus ( ...(more)

Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Darnestown Elementary School

(August 29, 2021)

Dear Darnestown Elementary School Community, This letter is to inform you that we were notified that an individual who was last present at Darnestown ES on August 27, 2021 tested positive for the c ...(more)

Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Wood Acres Elementary School

(August 29, 2021)

Dear Wood Acres School Community, This letter is to inform you that we were notified today, that an individual who was last present outside at WOOD ACRES on AUGUST 27,2021, tested positive for Coro ...(more)

Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at S. Christa McAuliffe Elementary School

(August 29, 2021)

Dear S.Christa McAuliffe Community, This letter is to inform you that we were notified today an individual who was last present at S.Christa McAuliffe Elementary on August 27, 2021, has tested pos ...(more)

Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Montgomery Knolls Elementary School

(August 29, 2021)

This letter is to inform you that we were notified today that an individual who was last present at Montgomery Knolls ES on Wednesday, August 25, 2021 was exposed to someone who tested positive for Co ...(more)

Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Gaithersburg Middle School

(August 29, 2021)

Dear Gaithersburg Middle School Community, This letter is to inform you that we were notified today that an individual who was last present at Gaithersburg Middle School on Friday, August 27, 2021, ...(more)

Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Albert Einstein High School

(August 28, 2021)

Dear Titan Families, This letter is to inform you that we were notified today an individual who was last present at Albert Einstein High School on Thursday, August 26, has tested positive for Coron ...(more)

Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Cabin John Middle School

(August 27, 2021)

Dear Cabin John Community, This letter is to inform you that we were notified today an individual who was last present at Cabin John Middle School on August 26th, has tested positive for Coronaviru ...(more)

Drinking water exceeds lead limits at 63 Montgomery Co. schools

From WTOP, reporter Megan Cloherty. Full story here.

WASHINGTON — Summer break is now in full swing for students in Montgomery County, but county drinking water testing reports show kids who attended more than 60 schools in the system could have been exposed to dangers levels of lead.

In updating the results of its ongoing Drinking Water Testing Program, Montgomery County schools say drinking outlets at 150 schools in its system have been tested for lead. Many have already been fixed.

While the county says on its website only 97 of the 9,748 outlets tested are accessible to students, a closer look at the individual school reports finds that a majority of the offending outlets are in elementary schools’ classrooms.

The Environmental Protection Agency sets a threshold of 20 parts per billion for the lead in drinking water before the fixture needs to be replaced. Nearby school systems like D.C. won’t let lead exceed 5 parts per billion.In Prince George’s County Schools, it’s 10 parts per billion, or ppb.

Of the 94 Montgomery County elementary schools tested, 46 have at least one drinking outlet that tested above the EPA threshold. Four others come within 1 part of the 20 ppb threshold. See the county’s testing reports by school here.

Some faucets and bubblers, or drinking fountains, tested at a few schools far exceeded 20 ppb, according to county data:

• A classroom bubbler at Lucy V. Barnsley Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland, tested 356ppb.
• A faucet in an ESOL classroom in Farmland Elementary School in Rockville, Maryland, tested at 564 ppb.
• A faucet in computer lab inside Fields Road Elementary School in Gaithersburg, Maryland, tested at 259 ppb.
• A bubbler in Gaithersburg Elementary tested at 253 ppb.
• A faucet tested at 310 ppb in a Maryvale Elementary School classroom in Rockville, Maryland.
• A classroom faucet at South Lake Elementary School in Gaithersburg, Maryland, tested at 431 ppb.
• At Eastern Middle School in Silver Spring, Maryland, a classroom faucet tested 115 ppb.
• In Kensington, Maryland, a kitchen faucet at Einstein High School tested at 700 ppb.
• At Wooton High School in Rockville, Maryland, a faucet inside a computer lab room tested at 112 ppb.

Dear Concerned Parent from Barnsley and other MCPS Schools:

Dear anonymous parent from Barnsley and other similarly situated parents:

Thank you for your letter concerning the situation you have encountered at Barnsley ES concerning the conduct of an MCPS employee.

Unfortunately, I am unable to do anything with the information.  Even if I were to share this information, in my hands this is just unsubstantiated hearsay - the legal definition of hearsay is a statement other than one made by the person making the statement offered to prove the truth of the matter.  I can't vouch for you or for the facts underlying your issue.

What I can do is offer you the following advice from an expert in child abuse.  This person suggests the following, not in any particular order:

• each and every person who has ever witnessed / heard about an event or has a concern (when this involves children as the target or children as witnesses to the event) should make a report to both Child Protective Services (emotional abuse) and to Police - specifically the Special Victims Unit (hostile / threatening environment).  

• every past thing and every future thing should be reported every single time.

• regarding info above, the same complaint should be forwarded to the superintendent and copied down the chain of command.

• every parent in the school should familiarize themselves with the new Employee Code of Conduct . . . here is a link:   http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedfiles/staff/0168.16_employeecodeofconduct_booklet_web.pdf     Parents can cite specific code violations and demand action be taken.      

 None of these things are guaranteed to be helpful however as sadly, what you are describing MAY not reach the level of CHILD abuse. CPS or MCPD may reach what they can legally investigate, but they are on alert for situations in MCPS and may very well know more than any of you.

. . . [T]the school system is NOT a sovereign nation in Montgomery county.  The same laws and protections that apply to people on the street and in other employment situations apply to MCPS as well.  In my experience, MCPS has told people they cannot call the police etc and they do their own investigations.   . . .   They do not have their own special laws / protections.   Adults should be reminded that if they wouldn't allow someone in Safeway to talk to them like this, they should not allow it in a school either.  

Send your concerns up the chain of command - to the MCPS administrators in charge of your school, and if no action is taken, continue up the chain of command.  Include the entire Board of Ed and county council.

Be loud, be vocal, if this is a real issue at your school, only you and others who can speak to the events can stop this behavior.  If you witness something and don't act, its as if the event did not occur at all, and the individual will likely continue until someone steps forward.