Showing posts with label Homeless. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homeless. Show all posts

Friday, November 25, 2016

Gloucester School Board Asking For 44 to 65 Million Dollars Throwing Taxpayers Deeper In Debt










The Gloucester County School Board is asking the taxpayers of Gloucester County to shell out another 44 million dollars to renovate the present high school or shell out 65 million to build a new high school.  These elitist board members fail to take into consideration what that kind of money will do to the average family in the county.  Higher taxes is a burden on families that are struggling now just to make monthly expenses in the present economy.  This hurts everyone with the few exceptions of those who can afford those higher taxes.  It does not matter if you are renting, it means your rent will have to go up to cover the new taxes.  And for what?  We are always told it's about the children.  Someone please show me the figures of how many students Gloucester has graduated that have moved on to an Ivy League college.  Does anyone have that figure?  

  Just because you throw money at something does not mean education improves.  Gloucester wants to put those huge windows in the high school like they have at the new Page Middle school, which by the way are on the wrong side of the building now costing tax payers a bundle in extra heating costs because the windows face north instead of south.  

  How can we trust them not to make all the same mistakes they made with Page which is a disaster by most measurements and considered as such by many throughout the county.  

  How many people will be put over the edge financially because of an ever growing tax demand by school officials who seek nothing more than to build their own empires?  We have a shrinking student base, not a growing student base.  We have had a shrinking business base, not a growing business base in Gloucester.  So where is that money coming from?  Where is the budget to help the poor, disadvantaged, homeless people in the county?  I would rather see that kind of money go to helping the local people who need it, not some ego hungry empire building school board that wants to throw money at looks, but it has nothing to do with education.  How does improving the looks of a school or building a new school improve education?  It doesn't.  But these elitists will do everything to sell you on the idea that it does.  Don't buy the hype.  Check into every aspect of it yourself and learn everything you can.  Just because they make it sound good, does not mean it is good.

  Demand justification for every benefit they try and sell you on.  Demand that the school board stop the wasted spending on over priced staff that has nothing to do with education but instead called administration.  As taxes continue to escalate, people will move to cheaper areas to live forcing yet higher taxes on those who remain further decreasing the value of improving looks of a school and shrinking the student base that is already in decline with no improvement in sight.  

  How these elitists justify grabbing more of your money?  Well, they live here too.  But as their empire grows, so does their pay.  And if the pay is still to low to cover the new taxes?  Pay raises are demanded to meet educational needs.  It's a great game they play against us because they can't loose.  

  This article is not meant to reflect on all of the hard working highly dedicated teachers that work for the Gloucester County School Board.  Overall the teachers do a great job with ever lower budgets despite ever increasing tax money given to the school board.  Where is that money really going is a wonderful question to ask.  The school board did not need to renovate an old school they closed and make it their headquarters, but they are empire building so........

  We highly recommend that everyone stop buying the slogan that it's all about the children.  They know that the slogan is very hard to argue against.  But it's nothing more than a slogan.  

  So here is our counter slogan:  "When elected officials see the citizens as nothing more than their own private bank, it's time to replace our officials.

  

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Mom Loses Sons in Fire, Helps the Homeless Wavy TV Story

GLOUCESTER, Va. (WAVY) - After losing her three children and mother-in-law in a fire, a Gloucester woman is giving back to the community that helped her during her darkest hour.

Grogan knows all about loss. On a bitterly cold night in January, fire erupted inside her Summerville Road home.

"The nightmares have gone for the most part," Grogan added. "I had one a couple weeks ago, and it was really bad."

A nightmare isn't even the word to describe what she went through. She was saved from the burning home, but her four loved ones weren't as lucky. Seven-year-old Thomas Grogan, 2-year-old Michael Grogan and six-month-old Gabriel Grogan were killed; their grandmother, Virginia, died after running back into the burning home.

"In my mind, I knew they were gone when nobody came out [of the burning home] after me," Grogan said.

The home was destroyed, but Jessica is rebuilding her life. Part of that, is giving back to a community that helped her husband and her when they had no one else.

"When the fire happened, we were only given three days in a hotel by the Red Cross, and we had nowhere to go," Grogan added.

Grogan and her husband were essentially homeless.

"It only takes one person to change somebody's life," she said.

Jessica, along with a couple friends formed a group inspired by the idea of creating a change. They started a Facebook page called "Make the Homeless Smile." They hope to convince people everywhere to get out and help a neighbor, the same way neighbors helped her when she had nowhere to go.

"There are homeless people everywhere," Grogan added. "You don't know what the situation is, and it happened to them."

For Jessica, the cause is near to the heart. It's also about finishing what a seven-year-old started.

"Little Tom, he was my angel," she said. "Even when he was here, he was an angel in disguise."

In his short time on Earth, Thomas learned the meaning of giving. Jessica says he helped his father ring a charity bell one Christmas. He also donated his piggy bank to help victims after Gloucester was hit by a tornado.

"If a seven-year-old can do it. grown ups can do it too," Grogan said.

This mission by Jessica and her group is really just beginning. They are holding an event September 28 -- that's the day they want everyone to get out and do something nice for someone else.

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