MCPS tackles mold remediation at Carver Educational Services Center

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) — Montgomery County Public Schools officials are working to tackle mold issues in one of the school district’s buildings, just weeks after staff returned for the beginning of a new academic year.

“Absolutely, we’re taking that [mold] situation very seriously,” said Essie McGuire, chief of staff at MCPS, in reference to concerns over mold found at the Carver Educational Services Center.

“Carver is a challenging building. It’s historic,” McGuire explained.

MCPS officials spoke at a committee work session with county leaders, in which McGuire told council members that part of what led to the mold issue at Carver was a lack of financial support.

“It [Carver] has not received funding or infrastructure capital attention in a very long time, and that is something that we want to take seriously for the long term as well,” McGuire said.

However, in the short term, McGuire said they initiated the remediation process, which involves identifying and cleaning the specific offices affected by mold.

“We’ve opened the Grosvenor holding school for alternate work locations for offices that are impacted and for folks who need to leave their space before we can get to remediation,” she said.

McGuire emphasized to officials that not all of Carver Educational Services Center is dealing with mold issues and that they are not abandoning the center.

“Offices that are having that level of issues have been reported, we have assessed, we are reviewing, and we are working to remediate,” she said.