Outdoor water fountain to be installed near track

The Physical Education Department is sharing expenses with the Athletics Department and the PTSA to install an outdoor water fountain next to the track. The P.E. Department originally requested the installation with the construction of the new building, but MCPS denied the measure.

P.E. Department Resource Teacher Cynthia Changuris expressed a need for a source of water closer to where the classes take place. Athletes and sports students currently need to go to locker rooms during practice to fill up water coolers, according to Changuris. "Students would have to carry these coolers through the halls and outside," she said.

Longer classes make the problem worse for students, Changuris said. "It's not that bad for students in fifth period P.E., where the class is 45 minutes long. But when you're in block class for 90 minutes, students start with a run and then move onto an activity, and they need water in between."

Varsity girls' tennis player Dominique Franson agrees that a water fountain would solve problems with water supply. "It would be very helpful," Franson said. "In the middle of a match, we're not allowed to leave, so we have to get a coach to fill up our water bottles."

"I've been trying to get it for years,” Changuris claimed, "since I've been here, in fact." The reason why it has taken so long, according to Changuris, is that the county disapproved the installation of outdoor water fountains. "The concern was that they would be vandalized," she explained.

Changuris, receptive to this censure, searched for a water fountain model that was "resistant to vandalism." She found one in the online catalogue at Upbeat Inc. Its handicap-accessible drinking fountain could be customized with features that would make it durable.

The model Changuris wants is encased in concrete and features a stainless steel bowl. Additionally, it is freeze-proof and customized with a side faucet for filling up coolers.

According to Changuris, purchase, shipping and installation of the fountain would cost around $1,300 without these features. With the special features, she says, that price climbs to $2,200. The cost, Changuris said, is shared by the P.E. Department, Athletics Department and the PTSA so that it's "not all on one person."

These measures, Changuris believes, will mollify MCPS. "If we're going to do it, we're going to do it right and show the county that it will work," Changuris asserted.

However, she said, it was the PTSA's support of the water fountain that persuaded the county. "Without their support I don't think the county would have said yes," said Changuris. "Up until now, the answer has always been no."

PTSA Co-President Fran Rothstein contacted a number of MCPS officials known for their efforts to promote student health and nutrition. She first convinced Board Member Pat O'Neil to approve a work order for a water fountain. "[O'Neil] has been very vocal about the need for healthy food and drink in school vending machines," Rothstein said, "so it seemed logical that she would support a water fountain for health reasons."

Rothstein said that she then garnered approval from County Council member George Leventhal. This started a series of communications that led to MCPS' decision to allow the water fountain.

Changuris does not expect the rest of the process to go smoothly, however. For instance, she said, freeze-proofing requires that the current water lines outside must be buried 6 ft. below the ground, and the problems don't stop there. Additionally, the piping, some of which protrudes from the ground, must be moved. Right now, the pipes can be seen beside the bench just outside the gate doorway of the tennis courts. Changuris explained it must be moved nearer to the track.

"There's a problem with where that pipe is located," Changuris said. "When the pipe was installed, there was only one pipe leading up." She realized there must be another pipe for drainage. She believes that the move closer to the track will allow a pipe to run into a preexisting drain in the ground.