Resident raises safety concerns about emergency exit road at Captain Walter Francis Duke Elementary School

Carl Neely, a Leonardtown resident, told the St. Mary’s County commissioners on Sept. 1 that work to create an emergency exit from Captain Walter Francis Duke Elementary School to Cemetery Road appears incomplete and may be unsafe for school buses.

Neely said a county sign announced the school district would construct an emergency exit road that “is not for public use” and would only be used “in an emergency situation.” He told commissioners he later observed crews grading the old farm road, spreading bank run material, installing posts and a locked gate at Cemetery Road, and that erosion occurred after rains.

Neely said he called the number on the sign and eventually spoke with a person identified as Bill Gross, who told him the school did not want the road but that the county had directed the work. Neely said Gross told him the county had previously experienced an incident in which the school had only one way out and students were held for hours.

“I've only seen the part of the road visible from Cemetery Road, and that part appears to me to be unsafe for school bus traffic, especially under emergency conditions with a load of excited kids,” Neely said. He urged that the route be connected to Cemetery Road, maintained while it remains part of any emergency plan and tested by driving a large school bus over it to get feedback from a bus driver.

Neely said he left his name and phone number for follow-up on Aug. 13 and spoke with Gross on Aug. 14; he said Gross promised the director would call but Neely had not received a return call as of the forum.

No county official responded at the public forum, and there was no formal action recorded by the commissioners during the meeting on the item.