MCPS fails to address G87 mold concerns

 Story by Gavin Tribble of the Walter Johnson Pitch newspaper reprinted in The Sentinel. Full story here.

After every class period when students rush through the hallways, ceramics teacher Kimberly Venesky wipes water off her cabinets in G87. The water coats her cabinets, running down the front, settling atop cabinet doors and pooling on the floor.

“Just people washing their hands and splashing or whatever, water is running down the stainless steel [countertop] and down towards the front,” Venesky said. “It’s sitting on top of the [cabinet] door, so when you open the door water is falling onto the floor.”

This has caused the cabinets, which are new, having to be replaced over the summer, to start deteriorating. Parts of the cabinet have begun to buckle under repeated contact with water and the door has started to split apart.

These cabinets have had issues long before they were replaced, having leaked for several years until, finally on March 13, 2024, a Work Order Request was filed to replace the counters. A day later, plumbers reported suspected mold, requesting an Indoor Air Quality investigation in a second work Order Request.

The Indoor Air Quality investigation was completed on March 18, 2024, finding a decayed root structure on a piece of rubble in the cabinet. It is also unclear if mold was properly checked for, as the cabinets were not removed, so the wall behind was not assessed, where Venesky argues the mold was located.

While the Indoor Air Quality investigation was complete, the cabinets were not replaced.

Eventually on June 18, over a year after the request was first filed, new cabinets were installed. However, it was unclear what happened when they put the new counters in.

“I don’t know how they addressed the mold, whether or not they just put the cabinets on top of it, wiped it down, whether it’s actually up to code, and that’s my concern right now, that it’s just going to come back,” Venesky said.

Mold and Maintenance Issues at Sherwood H.S. Spur Parent Petition

With more than 576 signatures, parent Claudia Delgado is pushing for change and calling attention to the mold, aging plumbing, malfunctioning HVAC system, sewage issues, leaks, broken tiles, poor ventilation and asbestos concerns at Montgomery County’s Sherwood High School, where her daughter studies. 

“My daughter spends her mornings in a moldy classroom and often suffers from a ‘cold.’ These conditions do not create a healthy, safe, or positive environment for learning,” Delgado wrote on the petition page, urging action to address the problems.

In recent years, a growing amount of students, staff, and parents have raised concerns about the mold and poor air quality in the school building, located at 300 Olney-Sandy Spring Road. 

It is a visible, documented problem

A report commissioned in October 2023 by fine arts teacher Hailey Mitkoff identified several species of mold in damp areas and noted long-standing water damage. The report recommended “prompt remediation” and “elimination of moisture sources,” according to a story in the Sherwood student newspaper, The Warrior Online...

https://www.mymcmedia.org/mold-and-maintenance-issues-at-sherwood-h-s-spur-parent-petition/

Mold in Montgomery County school draws staff complaints, parent petition

In September, Hailey Mitkoff, a teacher at Sherwood High School in Sandy Spring, experienced such extreme chest pain and shortness of breath that she had to go to the hospital. She said that she had observed mold in her classroom before, and that her doctor suspected a link. Mitkoff took an allergy test that confirmed she was allergic to some molds, she said.

She submitted a complaint to Montgomery County Public Schools that detailed her hospitalization and the allergy test. It was one of several complaints reviewed by The Washington Post that staff at Sherwood have sent to head administrators, requesting remediation for what they describe as a potent mold problem. Some parents from the school have also assembled a petition requesting Montgomery County schools to conduct “urgent repairs and mold remediation.”..

https://wapo.st/48Ckwix

Wootton HS: "gas company found failed gas regulator and a bees nest that was located in a venting pipe for the school’s boiler system."

Classes are back in session at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, Maryland, after students were evacuated moments after the first bell rang Monday morning.

The school building was evacuated at about 7:20 a.m. due to a gas odor...

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2025/11/classes-resume-at-wootton-high-school-after-suspected-gas-leak/

Magruder High School Play Moved After Ceiling Debris Falls Midshow

A student musical performance at Col. Zadok Magruder High School is moving to another school after debris from the auditorium ceiling fell during the performance.

Once Upon a Mattress, the high school’s spring musical, now will be featured at Shady Grove Middle School this Friday and Saturday...

School Play Moved After Ceiling Debris Falls Midshow - Montgomery Community Media

Breaking: 3 Year Old Plastic Football Field at Whitman High School Out of Commission for Playoff Games. Report [Pictures] Documented 27 Repairs in October.

Dear Walt Whitman High School Community Members,

The purpose of this email is to update the community on the state of our turf field and it’s use for sports and activities. The field has been used throughout the fall by multiple Whitman teams and outside organizations like MSI soccer. During the fall season, we have collaborated with MCPS in monitoring its condition. Subsequently, the field has undergone repairs and been assessed multiple times by MCPS facilities specialists to ensure the safety of our students and outside users. 

Out of an abundance of caution, we will not be using the field for the remainder of the fall sports season, specifically two home playoff games for girls soccer and field hockey respectively. Both of these games will be played at Walter Johnson High School on the evening of Friday, November 4. Whitman field hockey will play Urbana High School at 6:00pm and Whitman girls soccer will play Parkdale High School at 8:00pm. 

With the fall regular sports season concluded, we will collaborate with MCPS to further evaluate the playing surface of the field in order to identify any necessary repairs that need to be made in the months ahead. We will keep our community updated on any actions that are taken.  

While we are disappointed that we are unable to use the field for these two important games, we are nonetheless proud of all that our student athletes accomplished during the fall sports season at Whitman. As always, our students and parents are encouraged to attend these playoff games at Walter Johnson High School to support our field hockey and girls soccer teams. 

Sincerely,

Robert W. Dodd, EdD

Principal

Walt Whitman High School

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Image above shows Picture #27 of seam tears in Whitman High School/MSI artificial turf football/soccer field from October 19, 2021 Maintenance Report below: 

Walt Whitman High School - ... by Parents' Coalition of Montg...

Educator Abuse: Why Leaving Teaching Was Similar to Leaving My Abusive Marriage #mcps #mocoboe

After resigning from my teaching position last month, I felt very much the same way I did when I frantically packed a bag of essentials and escaped my abusive marriage. At both of these times, I was immersed in a dense fog which made things right in front of me strategically unclear. I was unsure that leaving was the right decision, and I was fearful that I would be unable to find my way on my own. In my mind, it was entirely possible that the problem actually was me and not the toxic behavior I had been subjected to on a daily basis. In both scenarios, I was codependent and in love. When you’re in an abusive relationship of any kind, whether it’s with a person or a job, it’s easy to fall victim to the endless gaslighting you experience and accept a multitude of untruths as reality...

...They are told to wait for yet another month or two to be paid for the required summer training they completed and to risk themselves and their young, unvaccinated children to return to the building during a pandemic. They become burnt out and beaten down by unsustainable expectations and lack of support.

It is then that an exodus seems imminent. 

Union representatives call for their members to organize and take action. It’s brought to public attention that educational staff are being taken advantage of, lied to, disrespected, and hurt. Speeches are made at Board of Education meetings. Educators take to the streets and to social media...

...Somehow, the final straw wasn’t when I was given all five of my teaching periods in a row, leaving me without a bathroom break for nearly five straight hours.

• It wasn’t when the light bulb on my Promethean board burnt out and wasn’t replaced for at least four months, resulting in my students, many of whom had special ed accommodations, going without visual aids for a good portion of the school year.

• It wasn’t when I was advised to put my personal values aside and pass students on to the next grade or graduation even if they had not demonstrated mastery of basic skills.

• It wasn’t when I was blamed for those students’ failure by being told year after year that it was my responsibility and my responsibility alone to get them to pass.

• It wasn’t when I had to constantly beg for more than 3 years for an air conditioner and space heater to be placed in my classroom so that I would stop fainting from the heat and developing painful sores from the cold...

• It wasn’t even when my ADA accommodations were denied and I was told to return to the classroom despite my doctor’s letter stating the very high risk of my becoming permanently disabled if exposed to the COVID-19 virus...

..This was the case when the school system failed to offer their majority-female staff paid maternity leave; in order to assist its impacted members, the union worked to develop a system in which teachers could “donate” their unused sick days to fellow staff members in need. It was the case when I fainted from overheating in my classroom for the fourth or fifth time and a close friend took it upon herself to track down a window AC unit to install. Similarly, when ADA accommodations were denied to countless teachers during the pandemic, empathetic colleagues stepped in to cover their classes so that at-risk teachers could remain safely virtual. And when the county failed to secure COVID-19 vaccinations for their staff prior to forcing a return to the buildings, many teachers joined a large network of “vaccine hunting” volunteers who stayed up late into the night and woke before sunrise to obsessively refresh pharmacy and massvax web pages in order to score appointments for unvaccinated staff...

 ...If they leave mid-year for any reason, they risk having their teaching license revoked.  When they call HR for help, they have their future job prospects and livelihood threatened...

https://theeducatorsroom.com/educator-abuse-why-leaving-teaching-was-similar-to-leaving-my-abusive-marriage/?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=socialnetwork&fbclid=IwAR3j1Mx6pILOKM-O98zaFrtI8XFbwgJP0q7xYthaPqp3_yjkN3I_pylXulc

Breaking: State Ranks MCPS Poor in Maintenance Effectiveness in MD Public School Buildings Report Released Today

Full Report at this link:  http://iac.maryland.gov/FY%202020%20Maintenance%20Survey%20Report.pdf

From the Report:  

Table A provides a summary of the maintenance effectiveness ratings of each LEA during the period of FY 2015 through FY 2020. The data shows that eight school systems achieved a high percentage of Good or Superior ratings; seven of these LEAs have portfolios with average adjusted ages between 19 and 29 years, which is below the statewide average of 30 years for square footage. The remaining high-achieving LEA has an average adjusted age of 34 years. Of the twelve LEAs highlighted in red that had less than 65% of their FY 2020 assessments result in Good or Superior ratings, five are younger than the average and six are older; five are the largest school systems (greater than 100 schools) and five are within the smallest (8 of 24 LEAs have 15 or fewer schools). The six-year summary, FY15 – FY20, includes the results of the latest year assessed. A six-year summary aligns with information included in the annual Managing for Results (MFR) submission.

 

Audit Discloses Backlog of Unissued Public School Maintenance Inspection Reports

https://www.ola.state.md.us/Reports/Fiscal%20Compliance/BPW-IAC16.pdf

MCPS Never Sees Maintenance Logs for Artificial Turf Fields #GoodLuckKids #concussion #gmax

Parents and guardians of students using MCPS artificial fields should watch the video below.

The video explains how artificial fields are to be tested to assess concussion risks.  Remember that artificial fields are a plastic sheet put down on top of layers of crushed rock. (See the picture below taken as the Blair High School artificial field was being installed.) 

Credit Kathy Michels

After you watch the video, you may ask, is my child safe when playing on the MCPS artificial fields?  

At the bottom of this post you can find the answer to that question.

MCPS has no idea.

MCPS does not get copies of the Maintenance Logs or Gmax testing reports for their FieldTurf artificial fields. 

MCPS pays over $1,500 per field annually to have the artificial fields Gmax tested, but never receives the test results.  

Good luck students.  We hope the artificial fields are safe, but we have no idea if they are. 

   2015 MPIA Artificial Turf G-Max Testing by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

FieldTurf Maintenance Services - document provided by MCPS. However, MCPS does not have any
 copies of filled out Maintenance Reports for their artificial fields.  Why get a copy of something that you have paid for?

MCPS Never Cleans Artificial Turf Fields - Ever. (Fairfax Does Deep Cleaning)

At the October 22, 2015, Montgomery County Council Education Committee meeting, Councilmember Marc Elrich asked MCPS' James Song the following question about artificial turf maintenance:

Elrich:  "Are you doing cleaning and disinfecting?"

Song: "No."

You can listen to the rest of this discussion in this video clip from the meeting.

Why is Fairfax County doing deep cleaning of their public artificial turf fields and MCPS does no cleaning or disinfecting?

 https://youtu.be/bd7_4koIvlo

NBC News4 I-Team: Cold in the Classroom; Schools Need Repairs

http://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/Cold-in-the-Classroom-Schools-Need-Repairs-296965011.html

Old and New MCPS Schools are Flooding This Week. All about that Maintenance.

On Monday the Parents' Coalition showed a picture of the flooding at the new Blair High School.  

Today we have video of flooding at the old Blair High School.

This week, MCPS buildings old and new are flooding.  The Board of Education has decided to  keep hundreds of administrator positions in the budget, but cut 17 maintenance positions for next year.  

We hope those 1,700+ MCPS administrators know how to repair pipes, HVAC systems and do mold remediation.  



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4WjlUeDbAM

Video Published on Feb 18, 2015

On Monday, February 17th, 2015 several sprinklers on the second floor in the front stairwell froze and ruptured sending water cascading down the stairs to the front entrance, Band Room, Chorus Room and Main Office. Water made its way down the hall into adjoining Sligo Creek ES. The sprinklers that caused this flood were replacements for the ones that burst and flooding in January 2014. It is believed that inadequate heat in this stairwell caused both sprinkler failures.

$10 million cut from Starr’s original proposal

The Montgomery County school board has approved a fiscal 2016 operating budget $10.2 million lower than what Superintendent Joshua P. Starr proposed in December.
The county school system’s proposed operating budget for next year now stands at $2.39 billion. The budget moves next to Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett and the Montgomery County Council for approval...

...Under the revised budget, the school system would cut $1.8 million, mostly by reducing and eliminating staff positions. These cuts deepen similar ones Starr had already proposed, meaning the loss of another 24 full-time equivalent positions.

Those positions include 17 building service worker positions, amounting to about $708,500; a professional growth consultant, costing $124,100; an instructional specialist involved in professional development, costing $144,296; and a consulting teacher position, costing about $105,000.

 http://www.gazette.net/article/20150212/NEWS/150219581/1022/montgomery-school-board-approves-budget-reflecting-loss-of-state-aid&template=gazette

Franchot: MCPS officials there have an attitude of “icy indifference to school maintenance.”

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) told public school officials on Wednesday that they should maintain the facilities they already have and not expect a rush of state funds to replace aging structures.
“Look, we’re sitting in a building right now that was built in 1772,” said Hogan while meeting in an ornately decorated reception room in the Maryland State House. “It seems to be working pretty well for us, and it’s very well maintained. We’re not building a new statehouse every 15 or 20 years.”
Hogan’s comments came at the annual “beg-a-thon,” when public school officials are given 10 minutes to explain to the Maryland Board of Public Works — a three-member board that approves most major state expenditures — why their construction projects deserve state funding...

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/as-school-districts-seek-construction-funds-hogan-stresses-preventive-maintenance/2015/01/28/e7673b00-a72e-11e4-a2b2-776095f393b2_story.html

100 Pipes Have Burst in MCPS in Last 3 Weeks

We learn this fact from the MCPS Board of Education meeting on January 28, 2014 (Agenda Item 2.5:  minute 9 of Chapter 8 video at link).

Broken pipes means water in buildings. What is MCPS doing about clean up? Mold remediation?