Friday, September 14, 2012
The feasibility study would examine potential options to renovate, modernize or add to the local elementary school.
Anne Arundel County Schools Superintendent Kevin Maxwell’s fiscal year 2014 capital budget proposes that a feasibility study be conducted for Edgewater Elementary School in 2016 to examine the physical state of the school and conceive a plan for future additions or renovations. Ever since a county Board of Education hearing in January where students said the air quality at Edgewater Elementary was making them physically ill, local parents have been calling for the board to make serious improvements at the school. Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) sent an air-quality specialist to examine the school’s condition and helped oversee maintenance upgrades to equipment at Edgewater Elementary. Last year, Maxwell proposed that Edgewater …
Friday, June 15, 2012
An in-depth look at the Anne Arundel County operating and capital budgets, and how they directly affect residents in south county.
After the County Council adopted its operating and capital budgets for fiscal year 2013, many south county residents contacted Patch wondering how it affected them directly. After sitting down with Councilman Jerry Walker (R-7th District) for an in-depth look at the $1.2 billion operating budget and $181 million capital budget, Patch learned about several major developments coming to the area. In the first installment of this two-part story, Patch discussed the new $750,000 parking lot coming to Southern High, the council’s approval of more than 120 new county school positions and $340,000 field lights coming to Southern Middle School. In addition to the new positions, the Board of Education released a preliminary list showing that …
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Parents want the school to be renovated sooner than the county executive's proposed budget suggests.
Edgewater Elementary parents plan to protest County Executive John R. Leopold’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2013 on Friday morning outside their school on Mayo Road. The school’s PTA president, Jenny Corkill, told Patch the parents are specifically protesting the fact that the school is not scheduled for renovations in the near future in Leopold’s budget. The protest will take place around 8:20 a.m. Friday, Corkill said. Edgewater Elementary parents were hoping their school would be bumped up for renovations sooner than the previously scheduled 2016. But after Leopold released his proposed budget for fiscal year 2013, the school is no longer on the short list for renovations, meaning they won’t come at least until 2019. “Our school has…
Thursday, March 15, 2012
The indoor air quality specialist who investigated concerns at the school will join school officials as they field questions Thursday night.
Public schools officials and the specialist who investigated health concerns at Edgewater Elementary will take questions and concerns from the school community Thursday night. Ed Light, indoor air quality specialist and president of Building Dynamics, will summarize his findings from his extensive study at the school. Since many of the parents’ concerns surround proactive maintenance at Edgewater Elementary, various officials will share their plans to ensure a healthy environment for students. Jenny Corkill, Edgewater Elementary PTA president, said Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) spokesman Bob Mosier told her that the AACPS Chief Operating Officer, Alex Szachnowicz, will field questions after Light’s presentation. “We really …
Monday, March 5, 2012
The indoor air quality specialist said in his report that the school poses no general health hazard for students.
Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) released the findings from the indoor air quality study at Edgewater Elementary Friday afternoon, telling parents the school’s “environmental conditions do not present a general health hazard.” The 31-page report, conducted by Building Dynamics and its president Ed Light, said Edgewater Elementary’s health concerns centered primarily on maintenance issues and equipment upgrades. Light said the school has problems with the structure of the building and its HVAC system, but said much of it has to do with the age of the building. The report didn't have loads of new information or details, but it showed a lack of effort by the public school system, Edgewater Elementary PTA president Jenny Corkill …
Friday, February 10, 2012
In a video provided to Patch, a kindergarten student from Edgewater Elementary asks the governor to help bring back her favorite after-school educator by building a new school.
A kindergartner at Edgewater Elementary addressed Gov. Martin O’Malley in a video, alleging that conditions at the school made her favorite teacher sick. Meghan Fritter, 6, said in the video that her teacher "thought the air was making her sick and she had to leave." She asked, "Can you build me a new school so she might come back?" The kindergartner referred to her favorite after-school care educator, "Ms. Katlyn," according to her father Garry Fritter. The video was shared with Edgewater-Davidsonville Patch with the hopes that the governor would see it. Meghan is the daughter of a parent leading a petition to get state funding for Edgewater Elementary. Parents voiced concerns in January that the school’s air quality was affecting the …
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Parents are circulating a petition in hopes of getting some of the $350 million Gov. O'Malley said he wants to spend on school construction.
Homeowners and parents from communities surrounding Edgewater Elementary are worried health concerns stemming from the school’s condition will negatively affect the local housing market. According to local parent Gary Fritter, a campaign has begun with nearby community associations to bring more attention to the school’s condition and its need for renovations. “These associations have a vested interested in having a healthy school in their area,” Fritter said in an email to Patch. “The housing marking in our area can’t afford to have folks not buy houses in these communities because of unhealthy schools.” At a Board of Education meeting in January, Edgewater Elementary parents expressed concern that the school was making their children …
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Gary Fritter, a local parent, shares his photos with Patch after visiting the school Monday to inspect his concerns about the schools environmental safety.
Ever since Meghan Firtter began attending Edgewater Elementary last fall, her father, Gary, said she has suffered respiratory issues. "She's had migraines, sniffles and several respiratory infections," Fritter said. After visiting the school Monday to inspect concerns about its environmental safety, Fritter snapped several photos of what he called "serious issues." The local dad and government consultant said he found mold near a ventilation unit and checked out the infamous crawl space. Fritter said the most disturbing thing he discovered was a broken drainpipe from the school's roof that dumps metric tons of water into an open pit. Examine Fritter's photos from his visit above. Have you visited Edgewater Elementary?
Concerned parents of Edgewater Elementary students packed the cafeteria and were unsettled by the lack of findings and easy fixes proposed.
The industrial hygienist who investigated health concerns at Edgewater Elementary spoke Tuesday night to a packed cafeteria full of concerned parents. Ed Light, president of Building Dynamics, told the crowd his main concerns with the school focused on “small mold growth and dampness" and that the problems could be fixed quickly and easily. He did not identify the situation as a "hazard," but said students with "sensitive immune systems" were more likely to experience agitation in the school's environment. “We have found that the dampness and the mold in the crawl space is a concern. That is our only identified health problem,” Light said. “We’re completing work within the next week to have very specific and easy recommendations to …
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Parents are eager to hear from the man who investigated air quality and health concerns at Edgewater Elementary.
8:50 p.m.—The meeting concludes. Parents left quite upset. 8:43 p.m.—Another parent asking "Why are our children suffering because of the past." The topic has transitioned to the history of "lack of renovations" at the school, according to many parents. 8:30 p.m.—The parents here are getting restless and showing more outward frustration. The conversation here is shifting towards concerns about the water supply at the school. 8:24 p.m.—"I think this is a premature meeting for your lack of findings and way too late for the families," says a man in the back of the room. Bob Mosier, AACPS spokesman, was clear in saying this was not a definitive report on findings, but it appears many parents were hoping for more than what was offered. 8:18 …
Bob Mosier
8:57 am on Sunday, September 16, 2012
Just to be clear, the $2.6 million in FY2016 in Superintendent Kevin Maxwell's proposed six-year Capital Improvement is funding both for a feasibility study and design for Edgewater Elementary. As the story states, the study looks at the five available options and the costs for each. When a feasibility study comes before the Board of Education, an option is chosen and design proceeds accordingly… more ›