They complained of broken HVAC systems and pervasive mold. Of flooded bathrooms and leaks that spring when it rains. Of bugs that bite.

Parents and staffers on Thursday brought their frustrations to the Montgomery County school board, saying intolerable campus conditions are causing illness and interrupting learning.

“It’s just too much. No staff member should have to sacrifice their safety to go to work,” Pia Morrison, SEIU Local 500 president, told board members.

The county’s sprawling public school system operates more than 200 buildings, many of which are decades old. Its complex facility challenges were spelled out in an 81-page Montgomery County Public Schools report presented to the board Thursday.

“Many of our buildings have gone decades without major capital improvement projects, underscoring the need for strategic, long-term investments,” the 2026 Comprehensive Maintenance Plan reads. “While this challenge cannot be resolved overnight, MCPS is committed to a multi-year effort to provide the necessary support to maintain and enhance our facilities.”

The people who work on campuses — or send their children into those old buildings to learn — said they don’t want to wait. They urged officials to make immediate and hefty investments in improving buildings.

Morrison was joined at the meeting by dozens of SEIU Local 500 members employed by the district. Secretaries and other support staff rallied outside the school board building, demanding better job conditions.

Among them was Elida Pineda, an administrative secretary at the Carver Educational Services Center. Every morning before she walks into work, Pineda takes a puff of her inhaler.

The air quality in the building aggravates her asthma, she said. When she sits at her desk, she gets a tight feeling in her chest.

District leaders are in the midst of a mold remediation effort at Carver, a historic county building that’s used as office space. The “deep cleaning” is scheduled to run through mid-November.

But some staffers said showing up to work at Carver leads to coughs and headaches.

“It’s crazy,” Pineda said.

County schools spokesperson Liliana López said the district expects to provide an update to Carver staff Friday.

Parents want to know there’s action planned for other buildings, too.

Risha George, the PTSA president at White Oak Middle School, said parents were visibly sweating during back-to-school night because of a faulty HVAC system. She called it “a glimpse into what students and staff endure daily.”

“These conditions are a daily barrier to learning,” she said.

District officials opened nearly 10,200 work orders for preventive maintenance in fiscal year 2025, a figure well below the set goal of 15,000. Of those work orders, just 37% were closed within a month.

The school system’s maintenance system “remains underfunded relative to industry standards,” district documents state. The root of its facilities troubles are manyfold. Budget freezes added to backlogs, inflation strained the budget, and the number of people in the technical trade workforce didn’t keep pace with demand.

Superintendent Thomas Taylor acknowledged “severe issues” and pledged to take on maintenance problems.

“We’re not blind to any of them,” he said.