Child at Eastern wears coat during day because it’s so cold

[Anonymous]

As an Eastern parent for four years now, I agree with 10:01. It's ridiculous that schools in much better shape are getting rev/exes and expansions when Eastern so desperately needs to be torn down and a new school built. It's not just management, the HVAC system is so old that it's not about just resetting the thermostat to get the right temperature.

And no, it's not at all every school in the district that's like this. Eastern has a large percentage of poor and immigrant families and they simply don't have the lobbying clout of parents in the rich part of MoCo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As an Eastern parent for four years now, I agree with 10:01. It's ridiculous that schools in much better shape are getting rev/exes and expansions when Eastern so desperately needs to be torn down and a new school built. It's not just management, the HVAC system is so old that it's not about just resetting the thermostat to get the right temperature.

And no, it's not at all every school in the district that's like this. Eastern has a large percentage of poor and immigrant families and they simply don't have the lobbying clout of parents in the rich part of MoCo.

And if you read the most recent assessment of the facilities, it's like they were touring a different school. Very few of the items deemed "acceptable" bore any relation to the stuff our kids experience every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is nearly every school in my district.

What district?

Baltimore City.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/us/baltimore-schools-winter-heating.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an Eastern parent for four years now, I agree with 10:01. It's ridiculous that schools in much better shape are getting rev/exes and expansions when Eastern so desperately needs to be torn down and a new school built. It's not just management, the HVAC system is so old that it's not about just resetting the thermostat to get the right temperature.

And no, it's not at all every school in the district that's like this. Eastern has a large percentage of poor and immigrant families and they simply don't have the lobbying clout of parents in the rich part of MoCo.

And if you read the most recent assessment of the facilities, it's like they were touring a different school. Very few of the items deemed "acceptable" bore any relation to the stuff our kids experience every day.

YES! It’s like where were they because certainly not Eastern.

[Anonymous]

Feel the coldness along every hallway during last night open house. Feel sorry for teachers and students who need to survive in such a shabby building.

[Anonymous]

This is an issue in many MCPS buildings. I teach in an elementary school and help support different grade levels and am in multiple classrooms each day. I have to wear layers because I need to wear a coat in some rooms while other rooms are stiflingly hot. The HVAC system is centralized so they pick a date to turn on/off the heat and/or AC in the buildings.

Many older buildings have crappy heating/cooling systems. It takes forever for the people to come once the building service manager places a work order and even then it may not be a fixable problem or they have to come back a million times with different parts before it improves. I’m currently eating lunch and wearing an under tank, long sleeve tee, sweater and coat. I’m going to a class in 5 minutes where I’ll be wearing the long sleeve tee with the sleeves pushed up and then in the class after that I’ll be wearing all of the layers plus a coat. We let kids wear whatever they need to (within reason) to be comfortable.

Staff in our building have complained for years to building services at the school and central office level about the heating/cooling but there hasn’t been any change. MCPS really only takes parent complaints seriously (which I know isn’t the case all the time). But they will just put a bandaid on the situation because they don’t want to spend the money to permanently fix it. The interesting thing is that every training I’ve attended in a MCPS central office building has had a functional HVAC system and they can control the temperature if it’s too cold or too warm (except Rocking Horse Road—it’s either freezing or incredibly hot in there). One more example of the central office folks not being personally impacted by things like this so they don’t consider it to be a priority or even a need.

[Anonymous]

She says one of the rooms has cool air blowing out still and the teacher is wearing a coat, too. I’m so frustrated with the facilities here, and the lack of any improvements done here while MCPS blows money on redistricting proposals. Let’s take care of some basic needs first

+10000 It is not just at Eastern and not just at the pool schools. Wotton and Poolesville have had tons of active lobbying parents for years and MCPS has still let the facilities fall apart just like at Eastern and Neelsville. The 500K on the boundary analysis, the millions being spent on legal fees, and other waste could be much better spent on simply repairing/ replacing HVAC systems in the schools and getting the mold out of elementary schools.

Its a horrible financial argument to say that well MCPS asked the county and state 1.2 billion to renovate schools during large expansions that takes years to complete and since they didn't get it then they can spend the billions that they already have on wasteful things. Fix the HVAC, get the lead out of the drinking fountains, remove the mold, and fix the toilets.

[Anonymous]

I teach in a coat.

[Anonymous]

I head similar things about NBMS. There's one room where the heat is jammed and it's been over 100 degrees on multiple days -- kids go to the health room if they feel faint and the teacher keeps asking them to ask their parents to complain. Other classrooms are freezing.

I haven't asked whether it's only the classrooms in the old part of the building that have this problem. I'm now curious whether at least the expansion part of the school has a functioning HVAC.

[Anonymous]

Yes, many MCPS buildings are old, not just Eastern. It sucks for many kids going from hot rooms to cold rooms and reverse all day. All part of aging infrastructure that no one wants to pay to repair!

[Anonymous]

Eastern begged for portables and was refused.

In addition, staff and students have written, called, petition, and given speeches for two years pleaded for a new building since Eastern is the only school never rebuilt or renovated in a major way.

If you are upset, use your privilege and email everyone on the school board today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach in a coat.

50% of the time, I teach in a coat. The other 50%, I’m being cooked alive and get nosebleeds. My colleague keeps her heat shut off because she has bp issues.

[Anonymous]

Poolesville has broken bathrooms, no heat, broken windows with cardboard covering, leaking ceilings, mold and mildew. Cry me a river.

The board gives themselves raises an is paying a half million on a boundary study. Years ago they spent millions in the study for high schoolers going to school later.

Soon, they will complain the state doesn’t give them enough even though they are only 25% of the funds from the budget. The county and piggy back taxes SHOULD be paying for infrastructure and every year it doesn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Poolesville has broken bathrooms, no heat, broken windows with cardboard covering, leaking ceilings, mold and mildew. Cry me a river.

The board gives themselves raises an is paying a half million on a boundary study. Years ago they spent millions in the study for high schoolers going to school later.

Soon, they will complain the state doesn’t give them enough even though they are only 25% of the funds from the budget. The county and piggy back taxes SHOULD be paying for infrastructure and every year it doesn’t.

Who knows how much asbestos I'm taking with me each time I leave that building . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC & friends at Clemente also wear coats as they need to shuttle back and forth for couple of periods between Main building and portables.

My classroom at Eastern was 55 deg all week.