Ceiling collapses during high school play in Maryland
Ceiling falls during high school play in Maryland
Parents and students at a Montgomery County school are frustrated after a part of the ceiling falls during the opening weekend of the school's spring musical over the weekend.
DERWOOD, Md. - Parents and students at a Montgomery County school are frustrated after a part of the ceiling falls during the opening weekend of the school's spring musical over the weekend.
Ceiling collapses during spring musical
The backstory:
Magruder High School in Derwood is about 55 years old and naturally has some maintenance issues.
"Our infrastructure is aging in general, the cost of maintenance and repairs and construction is increasing in general, and our budget is becoming more restrained, so when you put all those pieces together, it's certainly frustrating that the ones impacted by this are our students," said Magruder PTSA President Kim Glassman.
Photos shared with FOX 5 by parents show a chunk of the ceiling missing after it fell during the spring musical "Once Upon a Mattress."
As all great productions do - they took a pause and then the show went on.
But after an assessment, school officials found the issue needs more time to fix - so the auditorium is currently closed and the musical has moved down the road to Shady Grove Middle School.
Parents tell us they have been asking for capital improvements to the school for years - and those have been delayed.
According to MCPS officials, the CIP budget focuses on 'significant, long-term capital projects', and issues like this are considered general school maintenance, falling within the operational budget.
MCPS superintendent requests more funding for repairs
Big picture view:
FOX 5 has learned Superintendent Dr. Taylor has asked for $9 million dedicated to school maintenance in the upcoming $3.6 billion budget.
"So if it is part of maintenance then I have a different set of questions, like how did we not know the ceiling was compromised until it fell down?" Glassman said.
Students from Magruder actually testified at a school board meeting in November 2024 about the deteriorating state of the auditorium and the school.
"Magruder's conditions do not provide a safe, healthy, learning environment for students," said one student, citing mice, mildew and mold. "When I entered the school music suite over the summer, my face was met with disgust as I saw a dead mouse. That shriveled grim and gray mouse reminded me of Magruder - neglected and left to rot."
It's not clear how long the auditorium repairs will take to complete.
Read the letter sent to Magruder families following the incident below:
The Source: FOX 5 DC and MCPS