State requires repairs at T.C. Martin ES

Friday, Sept. 19, 2008

According to Charles Wineland, assistant superintendent for supporting services for the Charles County public schools, T.C. Martin was cited because it needs new rooftop heating and air-conditioning units after an inspection by the Interagency Committee for Public School Programs.

‘‘We already have the new rooftop unit replacements scheduled in [the schools’ capital budget] for the year,” Wineland said. ‘‘We usually are able to budget for one systemic repair in the school system for the year.”

The Bryantown school was also cited for not having an adequate parking lot, damage to the wall by the flag pole and no weather stripping on any exterior doors. In addition, the air-handler exhaust fans need to be repaired and loose items need to be removed. from the window air-conditioners

The parking lot was considered inadequate because it was too small, and the wall by the flag pole had some chipped mortar.

None of the issues is considered dangerous to students or staff, Wineland said.

‘‘We have already gotten a plan which is 98 percent complete to upgrade and expand the parking lot,” Wineland said. ‘‘The damage to the wall near the flag pole and the weather stripping will be repaired and installed by Oct. 15. The air-handler exhaust fans repair and the removal of loose items on the window units is already done.”

According to Wineland, a yearly inspection of six county schools was held in May. The committee holds surprise inspections of every school district each year.

According to Brian Long, coordinating supervisor of maintenance and technology for the school system, who presented the findings at a Charles County Board of Education meeting last week, six sites were inspected. An inspection might include checking the roof and the boiler room or checking for minor cosmetic repairs, such as trees that need trimming or a gutter that needs to be cleaned.

The schools inspected which received superior ratings were J.C. Parks Elementary in Indian Head, J.P. Ryon Elementary in Waldorf and Mount Hope-Nanjemoy Elementary in Nanjemoy. The two schools which received good ratings were Benjamin Stoddert Middle and Dr. Samuel A. Mudd Elementary, both in Waldorf.

Poor, not adequate, adequate, good and superior are determined by a ranking system, based on points given during the inspection, according to an e-mail from Katie O’Malley-Simpson, spokeswoman for the public schools. The severity of everything cited is weighed. For instance, if it is a rooftop unit that needs replacing, they deduct three points. If it is a parking lot size issue, one point is deducted. There are 35 categories. A score of 96 to 100 is superior, 86 to 95 is good and 76 to 85 is adequate. Not adequate is 66 to 75 and poor is 65 and below.

Last year, one school was rated superior, four were rated good and one was rated adequate, according to O’Malley-Simpson.