Josh Kowalkowski, The Examiner
2007-08-28 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

Ellicott City -

Several students said they were apprehensive that building conditions at Mount Hebron High School would be fixed, but the principal questioned their cause for concern.

“Based on past experiences, [school officials] would tell us it’s fine, but then something else would happen,” senior Rachael Mueller, 17, said. on Monday, referring to sewage and rodent problems at the 42-year-old Ellicott City school.

Junior Sean Wedeking, 16, said the school was still dirty; senior Chad Selitto, 17, said some wall tiles were cracked.

Senior Megan Muduck, 17, said she was concerned that anticipated funding for building improvements might not address what many

students felt was the biggest problem facing the school — sanitation.

Principal David Brown said a larger-capacity wastewater system was installed to address the leaking sewage problem, and the mice, which he said entered the building a few times last year, were exterminated by pest-management services.

He said he had not seen the April 2006 report, drafted by Rockville-based Smolen-Emr and Associates Architects and obtained by The Examiner, that warned of asbestos and lead in the water, because he was not principal then.

But he said any possible asbestos could not get airborne, and the water was tested monthly.

He pointed to an assessment this June from Gilbert Architects Inc. that said the building was “sound” for students this year.

However, of the four high schools compared in the Gilbert study, Mount Hebron ranked the worst for its interior and exterior conditions and fire safety.

School officials still are debating the extent of the renovations.

IF YOU GO

» WHAT: Howard School Board meeting on proposed 2008-09 capital budget and capital improvement plant

» WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 6

» WHERE: Department of Education, 10910 Route 108, Ellicott City.

jkowalkowski@baltimoreexaminer.com