The Truth About Mold in Montgomery County Schools
The stories about moldy Montgomery County schools on the news this month are depressingly familiar. Kids come home with headaches. Teachers wear masks and gloves, complaining of rashes and respiratory symptoms. Parents raise alarms. The cycle plays out on the evening news, complete with footage of stained ceiling tiles and moldy baseboards. Next will come anger-fueled PTA meetings where defensive school system leaders and county officials promise change that doesn't happen nearly soon enough, if at all.
It has been happening for decades, and the narrative never changes. Each year when schools reopen, parents, teachers, and students walk into buildings that have been unoccupied for weeks or months. Sometimes the air conditioning hasn’t been running. Sometimes long-neglected maintenance issues suddenly reveal themselves. And inevitably, mold is found.
I don't just say this as a casual observer and lifelong county resident. I've been involved in indoor environmental issues for decades. I edited technical standards and training manuals for air conditioning engineers, filtration manufacturers, HAZMAT pros, water restoration contractors, and mold remediators. My work introduced me to thousands of scientists, contractors, school leaders, and homeowners with an interest in mold. I spent years in committee meetings with the experts who defined best practices, and likewise talking to the people who live with the consequences.
When it comes to Montgomery County schools in particular, I'm an insider too. I attended Montgomery County public schools from K through 12, as did my three children.
Let's Really Talk about Mold
Mold can make people sick. That's not debatable. Not everyone is affected, but many people are sensitive, and some are hypersensitive. For those individuals, mold exposure can cause real health problems, ranging from temporary discomfort to long-term effects. The problems are serious, and the suffering is real.
Mold is a simple organism. It requires three things to thrive: spores, a surface suitable for growth, and moisture. Only one is within our control. Spores are everywhere, indoors and out. Surfaces are unavoidable. Moisture is the key. Without excessive moisture, there is no mold. Controlling moisture is the only effective long-term strategy.
At this point in the school year, when problems are new and overwhelming, people often jump to the wrong first step: testing. They see mold, or they smell it, or they hear complaints of illness, and their instinct is, “Let’s test for it.” But testing for mold that you can already see and smell is a waste of time and money.
If you can see mold, you have mold. If you can smell mold, you have mold. And if people are standing right there telling you how sick they feel, you don’t need a lab report to confirm it. During my years editing national mold standards, this point came up repeatedly: testing rarely tells you anything useful that you don’t already know. The problem isn't identifying the species of mold—it’s getting rid of the moisture that lets it grow.
Why Schools Struggle
Schools are inherently moist environments. Doors open constantly, letting humidity pour inside. Students track in rainwater. And people themselves carry moisture into the building. On top of this natural load, schools must contend with leaking roofs, poorly sealed windows, and failing caulking. Sometimes the entire building envelope is out of whack.
Mechanical systems are supposed to manage much of this. HVAC units do more than heat and cool—they dehumidify. But many school systems run on outdated, undersized, or poorly maintained equipment. Some schools have grown in population far beyond what their HVAC systems were designed to handle. Others simply keep running equipment long past its replacement date because new systems are so expensive. The result: when HVAC fails, the whole building fails, and mold follows.
Even the best HVAC system cannot save a building from a leaking roof. Nor can it overcome broken windows or gaps in exterior caulking. Unless water entry points are repaired, the mold cycle will continue.
The solutions are clear but costly. Montgomery County can have state-of-the-art schools with excellent indoor air quality. It can set a national example. But only if it spends the money on new HVAC systems, repaired roofs, better windows, remediation of contaminated buildings, improved maintenance schedules, and, in some cases, new buildings altogether. These are hugely expensive undertakings.
Yet Montgomery County can afford it. With a $7.1 billion budget and half already allocated to schools, the resources exist. Our wealthy and largely progressive community would even support additional investment if they believed the money would be used wisely and transparently.
The problem is not financial capacity but political will. Too often, projects are delayed by endless studies and testing, community meetings, and bureaucratic red tape. Contractors could replace HVAC systems in a year, and parents and educators would tolerate short-term disruptions if it meant long-term solutions.
A Pessimistic Outlook
The science and the human experience align on this point: moisture drives mold, and ignoring that truth only guarantees more suffering.
I’ve been watching these issues since 1989. And after 35 years, I see no reason to believe the cycle will break. Teachers will get sick. Students will complain. Parents will be frustrated. School leaders will take heat. And nothing substantive will change.
I wish I could believe otherwise. I would love to see Montgomery County take bold action. But there is no evidence of it. Not on the County Council, and not on the Board of Education. Without real political will and financial commitment, mold will remain a recurring headline in Montgomery County.
What's a Parent Supposed to Do?
If you or your kid is trapped in a moldy school five days a week, there is a way out. You do have power. But you have to fight! Fight loudly. Be ever-present. Put pressure on administrators, school boards, and county leaders. Call. Post online. Go to meetings. Contact the media. Parade sick students and teachers in front of cameras. Create noise that cannot be ignored.
Time and again, when communities raise public awareness to a point of outrage, school systems find the will and the money. That is how you can make a change happen before your kid matriculates to their next moldy Montgomery County school. So don’t relent. Don’t quiet down. Keep fighting for your children’s health and education.
