Saturday, August 3, 2013

Gloucester, Virginia's New Middle School A Danger To Children?

It's one thing to look at all the facts about the present situation Gloucester residents are facing with the potential of a new middle school being built in the county that most Gloucester residents are against the way that it has been put together.

  One building destroyed that could have been rebuilt, another school closed because we are told that it is no longer needed yet we are told that we need to build this other school because it is needed.  (Yes you read that correctly).  We have looked at a number of very serious legal issues surrounding the new middle school and in our own views, it is being done in violation of state codes.

With all of this said already, there is still more that has not been explored on the building of the new middle school and it is even more serious than the other issues already explored.  In fact, it has the very real threat of endangering the children.  That threat is the location of the new school.

  Here is what we did.  We took the information to a transportation engineer who;s job it has been to determine locations for sites based on a number of factors that also include environmental concerns.  Based on using Gloucester Counties own information and assessments, a quick and dirty analysis shows that the location of the new school is not in the best interest.

Let's assume that all the latest information on global climate change and the sea level rising are real.  If that is the case, then the location of the new school is in serious jeopardy.  Let's look at Gloucester's own information on this.
















Highlighted in yellow is the location of the new proposed middle school.  In red is the location of the old school, across route 17 George Washington Memorial Highway.  The other red along the water way is the hurricane flooding zone.  The model is the most recent from Gloucester County information, however, with sea level rising, the model is seriously now out of date.

  The new school is to close to the water ways putting it into a serious flooding situation.  If we are going to be environmentally correct, then the location of the new middle school is a serious violation to our environment.


Gloucester, Virginia" target="_blank">Natural Resources 070213 Gloucester, Virginia from Chuck Thompson


Here we are looking at Gloucester County's own laws and codes regarding the Chesapeake Bay act and proper planning methodology for what must be considered.  However, all this came about after the planning of the location for the new middle school.  With tax dollars being spent by the county on these studies, they must now realize that the new school location is endangering the children, being closer to the water and flood zones than before.

  VIMS has told us about the sea level rising, your tax dollars are hard at work to show you this.  At the very least, the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors need to put a screeching halt to the new construction until they can at least study the sea level rising and new flood zone issues and impact to ensure all of us the safety of our children.  Otherwise Gloucester County officials must admit that the issues at hand are nothing but junk science and your tax dollars are being wasted in numerous ways.

  Although they can always continue with the new school and prepare it for aqua learning.  Studies while under water.  Not a place I would send my own children.  
The Chesapeake Bay – Landsat photo
The Chesapeake Bay – Landsat photo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Enhanced by Zemanta

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank You for taking the time to comment on this article. Please note, we moderate every comment before we allow it to post. Comments do not show up right away because of this.