Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe people are making excuses for why MCPS is not upgrading HVAC/filter systems. What's so wasteful or controversial about doing so?

Because in many schools it’s not as simple as putting in a new unit

Then what is it? Are they having evaluations done? Can they change filters where it does make sense?

You clearly have no clue the conditions at some schools or know about hvac. No it’s not just changing filters.

You are right...I do not. That's not the point, though. What steps, if any, are THEY taking in this area?

Teachers have been demanding better ventilation for years. I teach in a DCC school with a physical plant in horrific shape and we have been asking for better ventilation for at least 5 years. MCPS said no money then. I seriously doubt there’s money now.

Many of the older schools run on a boiler or other systems. Not all our teachers have their own classrooms and share. Some don't have windows. These schools need to be replaces as there is no easy way to retrofit them except maybe individual units for each room.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cloth masks aren't PPE. PPE protects me when I wear it. Whereas with cloth masks, my cloth mask protects you.

So I can ditch my stupid cloth mask then? Cool.

What? No. Wear your cloth mask to protect me, and I'll wear my cloth mask to protect you.

Correct. Nobody’s ever said that cloth masks should be able to filter out viral particles, just to block the large droplets that carry the particles, especially when a person is asymptomatic. So cloth masks are only helpful if we all wear them—just as we all need to observe social distancing, wash our hands, disinfect surfaces, avoid dense crowds, and gather outdoors/ensure proper ventilation wherever possible. None of these measures will protect us 100% on their own, but used all together they can come pretty close.

I can’t find the graphic, but I’ve seen it referred to as the “Swiss cheese defense.” Each slice of cheese (protective measure) has a “hole” in it (weakness), but it you stack them all up (implement them simultaneously), they shore each other up and become much closer to impenetrable.

Anonymous wrote:

Broseph - not fox news. Right there in the WaPO. dude has no idea what he's doing. He was banking on reimbursement from FEMA. He's got 183 million in money to disburse but can't figure out how to do it.

Its actually pretty big local news. I'm surprised you weren't aware. Try to keep up

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/coronavirus-hazard-pay/2020/10/13/3106ec14-0cf1-11eb-8a35-237ef1eb2ef7_story.html

I don't know if you read the article you linked to, because that's not what it says.

By
Rebecca Tan
Oct. 14, 2020 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

Maryland’s largest county has distributed about $50 million in hazard pay to essential workers risking exposure during the coronavirus pandemic, even as other jurisdictions have taken steps to curtail such payments or offered far less.

Montgomery County employees since March 29 have been able to claim an additional salary of up to $800 per two-week pay period if they perform “front-facing” essential services, such as policing, firefighting or working on public transit.

Hazard pay is $350 per two-week period in neighboring Prince George’s County, $250 in Anne Arundel and $200 in Baltimore County. The District suspended its hazard pay program July 25, after the city entered Phase 2 of its reopening plan, and the state of Maryland has curtailed most of its extra payments.

As of September, Montgomery had distributed $49.2 million in hazard pay. If current policies persist, that amount will reach $72 million by the end of the year, according to a recent memo to the Montgomery County Council.

But as the pandemic marches into its eighth month, with job losses and business closures cutting into tax revenue and boosting the need for social services, some lawmakers say they aren’t sure the wealthy suburb of 1 million can afford such largesse.

“What is your plan here? How do you envision the county paying for this?” council member Hans Riemer (D-At Large) asked Chief Administrative Officer Richard S. Madaleno Jr. in a hearing Tuesday. “It seems to me that this is a huge gamble that may end up as a major fiscal problem.”

“I’m glad [county workers] are getting hazard pay,” the council’s vice president, Tom Hucker (D-District 5), said in an interview before the hearing. “But it’s a real cost to the county at a time when there’s just enormous drains to our resources.”

Union leaders, who have been close allies of County Executive Marc Elrich (D), say the extra pay is a necessary expense in a county where almost 24,000 people have tested positive for the deadly virus, including over 1,200 county government employees.

“Police, firefighters and public employees every day go out and risk their lives to keep their county running,” said Scott Treibitz, a spokesman for the county government’s three main unions. “The idea that we are not in a hazardous situation anymore is just not true.”

According to an agreement Elrich negotiated in April with the unions — the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1664, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 and the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1994 (MCGEO) — hazard pay is supposed to continue for essential workers until Maryland’s state of emergency is lifted.

Montgomery approves $5.9 billion budget that maintains ‘continuity of operations’

Since the summer, many large retailers, hospitals and government agencies across the country have eliminated the pay raises they gave employees at the start of the pandemic.

In the Washington metro area, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties in Virginia never instituted pandemic-related hazard pay programs, though some distributed one-off bonuses to front-line workers. The District paid some of its employees $14 extra per day but halted the payments in July. Prince George’s distributed $12 million in hazard pay to employees from March to July and is evaluating whether it should continue, a spokeswoman said.

Maryland stopped paying extra salary to thousands of state employees on Sept. 11, with state officials saying at the time that there is “less of a need” for the extra pay given that more people are returning to in-person work. Only employees working in a designated coronavirus quarantine area — such as in detention centers — still receive a $5.13-per-hour “response pay” bonus.

At the hearing Tuesday, council member Andrew Friedson (D-District 1) grilled Madaleno on Elrich’s plans to afford the government’s generous program, especially given the revenue shortfalls that the county stands to face because of pandemic shutdowns.

Elrich aides have previously said they expected the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reimburse up to 75 percent of the costs. But based on recently updated federal guidelines, “it is likely that the county will need to cover much more than 25 percent of the total cost of the pay differential,” council staff members wrote in their report.

Montgomery’s head of emergency management, Earl Stoddard, said the application process for reimbursement has been unexpectedly complex and slow; as of this week, the county has received approval for only $20,000 in FEMA reimbursement. The county is preparing to submit a request for an additional $24 million in reimbursements, but that is largely for costs associated with protective equipment and other goods, not hazard pay, Stoddard said.

Madaleno said the county government “will be working toward making alterations” to the agreements signed with unions but noted that emergency pay is written into their contracts.

Lawmakers on Tuesday also slammed the Elrich administration for its slow rollout of several county relief programs. The council has appropriated millions of dollars in federal funding and drawn down on its general reserves to finance initiatives meant to help residents through the pandemic, from rental assistance to business grants. But implementation of some programs has been slow, the same council report revealed.

Of the $20 million that was approved in July for a rental assistance program, for example, only $600,000 — less than 3 percent — had been distributed as of Sept. 30. While the county received more than 2,200 applications for rental assistance by the end of last month, it issued only 145 checks.

“There’s no excuse for why this money has not been out there,” said council member Nancy Navarro (D-District 4).Officials said that if programs are not implemented faster, the county may lose federal funding for them.

“The process has been unacceptable. . . . I share your frustration over this,” Madaleno told lawmakers. He said the county has hired new consultants and redirected seven full-time employees to work on federal reimbursement applications.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cloth masks aren't PPE. PPE protects me when I wear it. Whereas with cloth masks, my cloth mask protects you.

So I can ditch my stupid cloth mask then? Cool.

What? No. Wear your cloth mask to protect me, and I'll wear my cloth mask to protect you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe people are making excuses for why MCPS is not upgrading HVAC/filter systems. What's so wasteful or controversial about doing so?

Because in many schools it’s not as simple as putting in a new unit

Then what is it? Are they having evaluations done? Can they change filters where it does make sense?

You clearly have no clue the conditions at some schools or know about hvac. No it’s not just changing filters.

You are right...I do not. That's not the point, though. What steps, if any, are THEY taking in this area?

Teachers have been demanding better ventilation for years. I teach in a DCC school with a physical plant in horrific shape and we have been asking for better ventilation for at least 5 years. MCPS said no money then. I seriously doubt there’s money now.

So their plan for return to the classroom is to wait for a miracle? This is why they don’t publish any detailed plans? So when people say MCPS is too big, they really mean they’re just too broke...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe people are making excuses for why MCPS is not upgrading HVAC/filter systems. What's so wasteful or controversial about doing so?

Because in many schools it’s not as simple as putting in a new unit

Then what is it? Are they having evaluations done? Can they change filters where it does make sense?

You clearly have no clue the conditions at some schools or know about hvac. No it’s not just changing filters.

You are right...I do not. That's not the point, though. What steps, if any, are THEY taking in this area?

Teachers have been demanding better ventilation for years. I teach in a DCC school with a physical plant in horrific shape and we have been asking for better ventilation for at least 5 years. MCPS said no money then. I seriously doubt there’s money now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe people are making excuses for why MCPS is not upgrading HVAC/filter systems. What's so wasteful or controversial about doing so?

Because in many schools it’s not as simple as putting in a new unit

Then what is it? Are they having evaluations done? Can they change filters where it does make sense?

You clearly have no clue the conditions at some schools or know about hvac. No it’s not just changing filters.

Neither does anyone in MCPS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe people are making excuses for why MCPS is not upgrading HVAC/filter systems. What's so wasteful or controversial about doing so?

Because in many schools it’s not as simple as putting in a new unit

Then what is it? Are they having evaluations done? Can they change filters where it does make sense?

You clearly have no clue the conditions at some schools or know about hvac. No it’s not just changing filters.

You are right...I do not. That's not the point, though. What steps, if any, are THEY taking in this area?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe people are making excuses for why MCPS is not upgrading HVAC/filter systems. What's so wasteful or controversial about doing so?

Because in many schools it’s not as simple as putting in a new unit

Better to do nothing then! That'll make progress towards reopening schools...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cloth masks aren't PPE. PPE protects me when I wear it. Whereas with cloth masks, my cloth mask protects you.

So I can ditch my stupid cloth mask then? Cool.

You need to buy better masks. Mine have non woven material to protect me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe people are making excuses for why MCPS is not upgrading HVAC/filter systems. What's so wasteful or controversial about doing so?

Because in many schools it’s not as simple as putting in a new unit

Then what is it? Are they having evaluations done? Can they change filters where it does make sense?

You clearly have no clue the conditions at some schools or know about hvac. No it’s not just changing filters.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe people are making excuses for why MCPS is not upgrading HVAC/filter systems. What's so wasteful or controversial about doing so?

Because in many schools it’s not as simple as putting in a new unit

Then what is it? Are they having evaluations done? Can they change filters where it does make sense?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'm in favor of full F2F now, but I just don't think the MCPS leadership has the leadership capacity to pull it off now/next year without interim steps. Their inaction is always excused away with "it's too hard because they're too big...so they shouldn't even try."

Agreed. In the BOE meeting a week ago, they said they will _start_ to look for funding to upgrade HVAC systems. It's amazing they are just thinking about this now. They've had months.

Meanwhile, the Elrich admin has tens of millions of federal grant money from the CARES act they need to spend by the end of this year, and haven't figured out what to do with it:
http://www.theseventhstate.com/?p=13978

JFC! I just can’t with the incompetence of this county. Unbelievable.

Its shocking isnt it? And he approved tens of millions in hazard pay assuming FEMA would reimburse the county; welp, he was wrong. So now we're in the hole even more, with tens of millions of other undisbursed aid intended for small businesses, renters, or hungry families.

This dude is so out of touch with reality. He's the epitome of a local politician fat cat who has never been held accountable once in his life. So guess what he's gonna try to do? Hike our property taxes, for sure.

This dude needs to GO

You need to stop watching Fox news or lay off the crack. None of this is true.

Broseph - not fox news. Right there in the WaPO. dude has no idea what he's doing. He was banking on reimbursement from FEMA. He's got 183 million in money to disburse but can't figure out how to do it.

Its actually pretty big local news. I'm surprised you weren't aware. Try to keep up

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/coronavirus-hazard-pay/2020/10/13/3106ec14-0cf1-11eb-8a35-237ef1eb2ef7_story.html

Anonymous wrote:Cloth masks aren't PPE. PPE protects me when I wear it. Whereas with cloth masks, my cloth mask protects you.

So I can ditch my stupid cloth mask then? Cool.

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe people are making excuses for why MCPS is not upgrading HVAC/filter systems. What's so wasteful or controversial about doing so?

Because in many schools it’s not as simple as putting in a new unit