Gloucester, VA: Can We Trust The School Board? Failed Utopia

Can we trust the school board?  You may need to watch this video several times over and really listen to what John Hutchinson is actually saying and not what you may think he may be saying because when you first hear him you are likely to get the wrong message.  John Hutchinson appears to be addressing the issue of a Homeland Security audit.  On the one had he is.  On the other hand, it's not anywhere near as comprehensive as you may have been led to believe.  It's a very clever tactic used to send you the wrong information and making you think that the School Board has done everything in their power to ensure the safety of the students, teachers and staff.  We are going to show you that this may not be the case and give you the proper tools to figure it out for yourself.  Let's start with a video on body language.
  

Now let's go back to the joint meeting between the school board and the board of supervisors.  Let's discuss John Hutchinson's location of his hands when he was talking about the Homeland Security evaluation.  His one hand was in his pocket.  If you will also look again at how his head was dodging back and forth, he did not appear to be actually looking at anyone but instead below the level of anyone before him.  What did you just see in the video here on body language?  I am not suggesting he was lying.  I am suggesting that he may have been trying to pull the wool over the eyes of everyone listening.  Again, listen to what John Hutchinson says.  The security evaluation was a transportation evaluation.

  That means John Hutchinson was talking about the security for the bus system where Gloucester received high marks and why John did not want to get into specifics is because that would have revealed the slight of hand he just pulled in our opinion.  That is a trust issue.

  So does Page Middle school meet Homeland Security guidelines for safety?  Is there such a thing as guidelines for safety from Homeland Security?  Yes there are actual guidelines for safety and we have those guidelines and we are going to share them with everyone here reading this.  You can make up your own mind after doing the proper research whether or not the school board has done due diligence in ensuring the safety of the students.  The guidelines are 317 pages long and very comprehensive and well done.  It's a very impressive document.  At the end of the book is a checklist that you can take with you and conduct your own evaluation.  What we see is failure after failure after failure here to meet most of those guidelines.

  What will they argue back on this?  The Homeland Security guidelines are just that.  Guidelines.  As we understand how the federal government works, if they are mandatory, then the federal government would have to fund each project.  So guidelines are setup instead allowing states and localities to determine what the priorities should be.

Homeland Security Building Recommendations 

So above is the Homeland Security guidelines for schools.  Look through it and learn what those guidelines are and then take a copy of the checklist to Page Middle school and see how it stacks up.  We can tell you that one local resident pounded on the school board about these issues and even provided the school board with the exact information above before Page Middle school was constructed.  The School Board ignored these recommendations and that you can easily prove to yourself.

  To make it easier for you we have made a separate checklist that you can download for free from our slideshare site.  It's the same checklist as in the above Homeland Security book we just made it easier to print out for you because we want you to see all of this for yourself.

Homeland Security Building Design Recommendations Checklist 

We apologize for the annoying auto play of the Bos, School Board, meeting video as it is out of our control and the default option from the county that can not be changed even though it shows as an option.  We did not choose the auto play option which means it's supposed to be off.  Technical difficulties the county needs to address.  This is only one area in that video from the BoS/School Board where we have a lot of issues.  More stories coming very soon.

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Page Middle School Now Open With More Issues

It's an interesting building that there is no question about.  Some issues experienced yesterday with the new school include problems with the phone lines as well as problems with the Internet.  Not a big deal especially being a new school and not having much time to work out all the bugs.

  One area that begs to question is why isn't the cafeteria not yet functional?  And why did the school board order pizza's for the school children instead of having the food made at other area schools and bringing it into this school?  It would seem logical to have gone that route as opposed to ordering pizza.  What an order some business received over this.

We did a bit more checking and the rail on the second floor is probably 40 inches high as it should be.  A number of readers think that nothing will ever get thrown over that rail for any reason and that to think so otherwise is foolish.  It is their belief that every child is raised by parents who are very diligent in teaching their children between right and wrong.  I hope they are correct but a walk through any store suggests otherwise.  To think that every child, preteen, and teenager has been brought up to the highest standards of society is rather foolish.

  I have no wish for seeing any form of even mild mischief to take place yet to think it will not happen and that teachers will surely prevent such at every moment of everyday again is wishful thinking at best.  It is not only my opinion but also the opinion of others that designs throughout this structure are considered potentially dangerous.

How many teachers are out in this hall all day to make sure there are no issues and how is that cost effective when it comes to staffing?

Now a question about open design.  People are complaining that I would even complain about the waste of space this open design creates.  I am not the only one saying this.  This is also coming from an engineer as well as people that have been involved in constructing schools.  It's a heating and cooling nightmare for one.  Those claiming that open design is not an issue have not had to deal with the problems of heating and cooling such a structure.

So the above picture that shows two stories of open window space is needed for educational purposes?  I have no issues with the windows for each floor being the way they are, but how many classes could have been built in here that are now wasted?

Now the classrooms are nice looking.  What I have to wonder about is the windows as large as they are affecting the learning process.  The reason for the question is that anyone walking through the hall could very well be a distraction to the class or some in a class.

  The reason you have not seen these types of designs in schools in the past is because designers knew and understood these issues.  Today though it has become very unfashionable to ever question those in charge.  We should just accept what those in charge do.  If there is an issue then you blame the parents for not teaching their children, kids, preteens, teenagers, or whatever anyone wants to call their offspring these days, for not teaching them how to maintain the highest standards of society.

The lunchroom or cafeteria from another angle.  Open floor plan.  

The cafeteria food serving section is nice looking.  Hope it's up and running soon.  If you are just looking at the aesthetics of the overall design it is nice looking.  Modern, simple, and clean.  If you are looking at it from a liability standpoint, it is fraught with a host of "potential" issues.  Potential is the key word here.  Most people are not looking at the potential issues.  Those that are have been fast to discredit our initial post about this school and it's overall design because of the liability issues being faced.  The rail height on the second floor as seen in the above picture were brought up during construction but were blown off.  If something heavy gets thrown off that area or falls by some weird accident anyone below could be seriously hurt.  This is why schools in the past were not designed like this.  

  

     A number of people do not consider the fencing around the back of the building to be an issue.  Will the children, preteens, teenagers, or your offspring not try and climb these fences?  The design is against climbing them.  If you are foolish enough to try and climb over one you will probably get hurt.  It is designed to keep people out that have no business being there.  The fences meet construction standards and are upper end fences.  No question.  But again you have to be foolish enough to think that every child, preteen, teenager, offspring, have all been brought up in households where the highest standards of society have been instilled in them and that they all follow those standards to the hilt at all times with no question.

     We have invited Charles Records to write a letter to dispel the posts here.  He has invited members of the public to tour the school so that he could dispel what has been posted.  We await his reply and will bring that to you if he does respond.

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The Waterline At Page Middle School: Disaster Waiting To Happen Here Too?

The new 16” waterline extending along T.C. Walker Road and installed as part of constructing Page Middle School, does not seem to have been installed in the proper location. Apparently when VDOT required changes to design drawings for improvements of the T.C. Walker Road and Route 17 intersection, those changes were not incorporated into the civil site and utility drawings. This failure has resulted in the 16” waterline now being located in the very bottom of the VDOT drainage ditch.

As the story goes; the contractor installed the waterline and then began constructing the drainage ditch. As they constructed the ditch they discovered they removed most of the dirt above the waterline. Instead of removing the waterline and reinstalling it in the correct location when the error was discovered, they excavated along side of and under the waterline, removing the stone bedding and dirt from under the pipe while it was still put together. 

Once the stone and dirt are removed from under the waterline it will sag downward. The more it is forced to sag, the more each connection joint in the line separates. This is a dangerous and unacceptable method of lowering a waterline that operates under pressure. The reliability of the gaskets used to seal each joint and the chances of every joint being completely home (fitted all the way together) become compromised when manipulated in such a manner. 

The required stone bedding under the pipe is also compromised and often completely ignored when utilizing such method. Another reason to avoid such method of adjusting waterline depth is it rarely results in achieving the required depth. A significant section of the new waterline does not come close to having the required amount of cover. On August 20, 2015 I used a four foot long probe rod to determine the amount of cover over the waterline and discovered areas with less than two feet of cover. The minimum cover requirement is generally three feet. The main reasons for minimum cover requirements are to protect the waterline from freezing and to limit pipe movement, thus preventing the pipe from blowing apart under pressure. The close proximity of the waterline to the water tower that supplies it, the fact that the pipe dead ends so close to the incorrectly covered pipe and that flow through the pipe will basically cease daily during each day’s coldest periods, during weekends and during other times the school is closed during winter months, are all very good reasons for not accepting the waterline in it’s current condition. The waterline in its current condition will also increase the chance of VDOT damaging it during ditch maintenance.

 If VDOT should damage the line, they will be exempt from responsibility as prescribed by the Code of Virginia and all liability will fall on Gloucester taxpayers. If, for any reason, the waterline blows apart so close to the water tower supplying it, the results would be catastrophic; most likely resulting in a significant portion of T.C. Walker Road and the entrance to Page being washed away before the water could be turned off. Page would be closed until water could be restored and the road and entrance repaired. In this scenario Gloucester taxpayers will also assume liability.

I know everyone wants the new school opened as currently scheduled, but this serious issue should not be ignored or dismissed for the sake of opening on time. It should also not be dismissed to save a buck, no matter whose buck it is.

Respectfully and just my 2 cents worth,

Kenneth E. Hogge, Sr.

Gloucester Point

The two above pictures shows where we were out measuring where and how deep the waterline is buried by Page Middle School.  

Mr. Hogge,


Schools and the Contractor are very well aware of the waterline issue and have committed to making the needed repairs during the Winter Break in December. Not only has the Contractor’s President issued a guarantee to the County for the repair, but we also continue to hold a performance bond on the Contractor to ensure the repairs are made to satisfaction. Public Utilities is aware of the Contractors commitment and finds the repair strategy to be acceptable.

Thank you for your support. Have a nice day.





John E.Hutchinson

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Gloucester, VA More Page Middle School Corruption?

We keep digging and the more we dig, the more everything surrounding the supposed upcoming Page Middle School stinks of all kinds of issues.  For one, in a recent cross meeting between the Board of Education for Gloucester and The Board of Supervisors, it was well stated that the county wants to move forward with a letter of intent for construction.

  A letter of intent for construction is the same thing as signing a contract for construction.  The county is committing money to a project order where the county does NOT have the money in it's coffers to contract for and is a violation of state codes from everything we have seen and have shown on this site with the state codes.  These people simply will not follow the laws and one has to ask why?  Well as we continue to dig, we keep uncovering the why.  Let's explore some of the county's own documents to reveal some issues.

October 27th 2011 RRMM Powerpoint from Chuck Thompson

Go through the above presentation that we copied from the Gloucester County government website.  What we did was have several people with a great deal of experience with government contracting look over the above presentation and here is what we uncovered.

  A fast and dirty analysis from one of our experts showed that option B, the rebuilding of Page Middle school, at it's original location at an approximate cost of about 22 million was unjustified and looked like it had the numbers highly cooked to look like the option was just slightly lower than building on the site where ground has already been broken on TC Walker Road.

  Our second expert showed the following:

"RRMM Architects was awarded a contract on April 21, 2010 for the purpose of providing possible solutions for the “Repurposing of Page Middle School into a School Administration and Operations Center”. (I am not familiar with this other than Gloucester was facing a possible school closure due to decreasing enrollment.)

 On March 25, 2011 that contract was extended to June 30, 2012. On April 16, 2011 Page Middle School was damaged by a tornado. On June 6, 2011 a Purchase Order submitted by RRMM was approved by Gloucester County in the amount of $10,000.00 for “emergency work done to support investigative needs of schools to assess damage”. On June 6, 2011 another Purchase Order submitted by RRMM was approved by Gloucester County in the amount of $17,000.00 for “emergency work done to support investigative needs of schools to assess damage”.

 To this point RRMM is involved legally. On June 15, 2011 a Request for Professional Services to “review the potential for reconstructing Page Middle School” was advertised. Everything RRMM did from this point forward was not legal in my view. The Oct. 27, 2011 documents you attached demonstrate they were performing work outside of providing "Emergency Services" and were paid for that work. Emergency Services work is allowed to be attached to an active Professional Services Agreement which was the April 2010 agreement.

 Emergency Services is work like damage assessment and engineering services to safeguard and protect everything salvageable. On July 7, 2011 another Purchase Order submitted by RRMM was approved by Gloucester County in the amount of $13,545.00 for “schematic design/feasibility study-committee facilitation for Page Middle School options study”. This work included creating schematic design options of proposed facilities and locations, facilitating a Schools Superintendent appointed study-committee for Page reconstruction options and presenting those options to the School Board.

 At a School Board meeting on July 12, 2011 the Gloucester Schools Superintendent, announced the receipt of eleven proposals in response to the June 15, 2011 Request for Professional Services. On August 9, 2011 Duane Harver, Principle for RRMM, publicly presented information to the Gloucester School Board pertaining the July 7, 2011 study committee facilitation purchase order. RRMM was awarded the Professional Services contract on January 10, 2012.  By this time RRMM’s involvement in the reconstruction professional services process was extensive and again in my opinion, illegal.

As far as tampering with the numbers, I really can't say one way or the other.  I do know from reviewing some of it numerous months ago, that a lot of the numbers do look deceiving.  A look at how they correlate to the actual costs should be interesting."

From what we are seeing, it's deception in front of everyone's eyes.  Time to open your eyes and look at what these people are really up to.  Whatever it is, it does not look like it's within the best interest of the people at any level.  How many levels of corruption are in this county?  We keep peeling and it keeps coming our more and more.

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Gloucester, VA Page Middle School Dis Service Announcement 4 With Video

Further Information sent to us to show what is really going on in the county that is being hidden from everyone:

RRMM Architects, the firm the Gloucester School Board hired for consulting and design of Page Middle School is a financial sponsor of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents. www.vassonline.org/  Gloucester Schools Superintendent, Ben Kiser, became president of that association in early 2012.

 That association supposedly paid for Kiser's 2012 trip to Finland.  Gloucester Schools Construction Manager Scott Shorland is a Director on the Virginia Educational Facilities Planners Board.  www.vefp.org/boardBios.html  RRMM CEO Duane Harver is the president of that board. Shorland’s professional description shown with his picture on the VEFP board website describes him as being a licensed Professional Land Surveyor in 3 states, Virginia, Arizona, North Carolina and has over 30 years experience planning communities including infrastructure, which does not seem to compliment the professional description of the other directors on that board.

 In the last School Board meeting Shorland was quick to get up to speak for and defend Harver when board members started questioning aspects of the building design and saying they wanted to allow the committee that supposedly developed the criteria for the building, time to review, and help to determine a balance between glass and regular style walls. Harver, Kiser and Shorland spoke and looked very nervous at any possible actions that would delay or change what they are doing.

Below is the last school board and Board of Supervisor's joint meeting held in September, 2013.

And now to see the real answers from the video above.......

There is without question, some very shady stuff going on here right in front of everyone's eye's, in our view.  Carter Borden thought that the hardening of a section of the school was voted on and planned in as part of the school budget.  It was as evidenced not only by the video above, but also the county's own documents from what we see.  Now the school board and contractors are saying no it was not added in as part of the original agreement in this second video above.  Look it over yourself.  Nothing that we dig into is up and up as we continue to go through all of the nonsense of the upcoming Page Middle School.  Was $388,000.00 confiscated by the contractors against the county, hence the taxpayers?  Did Louise Theberge assist in this confiscation?

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