Reply to I wanted to share this short article about Silver Spring International Middle School

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[quote=Anonymous]Silver Spring International Middle is falling apart. The auditorium is abandoned, there are wires hanging from the ceilings, cracked ceiling tiles line the hallways and classrooms, and it is massively overcrowded. SSIMS and its more than 300 ADA violations need a renovation now. Montgomery County Public Schools has long avoided giving SSIMS the renovation it deserves. In this article, we call on MCPS to renovate SSIMS so every student can succeed. 
One specific problem with the SSIMS school building is its lack of ADA accessibility.
According to The Karlin Law Firm, LLP “The ADA requires 60 inches minimum width for passing.” The smallest hallway at SSIMS is only 32 inches wide and is also one of the busiest hallways in the school. Even if passing was not needed in the hallway it would still violate the absolute minimum width of 36 inches.   
According to Silver Spring International Middle School’s Ada Title II Assessment (accessible on the MCPS website), SSIMS has 338 violations and 148 of those were priority 1 items. 
As you can see SSIMS is nowhere near accessible for students with disabilities, or for that matter all students. 
Silver Spring International also has a downright ridiculous layout. The main hallway of the school is a quarter-mile long and a walk down to the gym is another quarter-mile. If a student’s schedule involved walking from the band room to the gym, then back again, that would be a mile-long walk. A study in Belgium recommended children aged 11-12, about 0.9 miles was a reasonable walking distance to school. If 0.9 miles is a good distance for just commuting to school, 1 mile is an insane amount for getting to just 2 classes, and that’s not even including the other five classes.
Silver Spring International Middle School has a lot of flaws. Easy accessibility is really important in schools, whether that means correcting 338 ADA violations, or just not wanting to walk several miles every day.
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