Imagine this is YOUR child's elementary school!
In Stranger Danger: Cell Towers on School Grounds, MCPS parent Jennifer Kerchaert wrote about the cell phone tower (shown at left) at Daly Elementary School in Germantown. But you really have to see the layout of the school grounds to fully appreciate her comments about the ability of strangers to enter school property and mingle with students outside their classroom, or on the playground.
In the Google map photo below you can see the dirt road that is used by the cell tower service workers. The dirt road goes right by the classroom trailers and right over to the playground. No front desk to stop at, no "visitor management" system, just drive right up to the pole!
We have Superintendent Jerry Weast to thank for the placement of this cell phone tower on an elementary school playground. This community voted against the placement of a cell tower at this site. But Superintendent Weast placed it there anyway!
It's all about the cash, not the kids.
Google Map View of Daly Elementary School, Germantown, Maryland
Montgomery County Public Schools
Yellow circle = Cell Phone Tower
Red arrows = Classroom trailers
Red circle= Blacktop play areas
Purple arrows = Dirt path used by Cell Phone Companies to service Cell Tower
Update: See the Daly ES Cell Phone Tower Compound up close in photographs here.
Did the community present arguments regarding health concerns when this cell tower was proposed or did they only care about aesthetics and the use of the money? Please elaborate on future blog. What happened?
ReplyDeleteFrom Gazette 2/15/2006
ReplyDelete...PTA members voted 20-6 last week against allowing a 103-foot cell tower to be erected between the playground and the school building at 2031 Brandermill Drive in Germantown, off Watkins Mill Road...
...The superintendent does not have to abide solely by the school’s recommendation, per the MCPS policy on Telecommunications Transmission Facilities adopted by the school board in 1997.
http://www.gazette.net/stories/021506/damanew224442_31967.shtml
And yes, parents have caught vendors working on the tower during the school day while students were on the playground.
ReplyDeleteAs health issues cannot be the sole reason behind not wanting a cell tower due to The Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 which prohibits local jurisdictions from banning cell phone towers outright. It also does not allow communities to ban cell phone towers at specific locations because of public health or safety concerns.
ReplyDeleteI think the blog http://whitmanhighcelltower.blogspot.com/ says it best citing The World Health Organization and the FCC:
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) "there are gaps in knowledge still needing to be filled before better health risk assessments can be made on the POSSIBLE health effects of exposure to many parts of the frequency spectrum." http://www.who.int/peh-emf/research/en/
Already in 1999, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) concluded (and it maintains this position to date) that "in general, while the possibility of 'non-thermal' biological effects may exist, whether or not such effects might indicate a human health hazard is not PRESENTLY known. Further research is needed to determine the generality of such effects and their possible relevance, if any, to human health. IN THE MEANTIME, standards-setting organizations and government agencies continue to monitor the latest experimental findings to confirm their validity and determine whether alterations in safety limits are needed in order to protect human health." http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Documents/bulletins/oet56/oet56e4.pdf
However, the lackadaisical approach MCPS has put forth regarding monitoring the cell tower site and the loose monitoring of the received funds only adds to the frustration a parent and a tax payer has.
Currently Baltimore County is looking at the policy they have in place for cell towers on cell grounds after a botched attempt at placing one on high school grounds when parents did not want it. And as far as I know, Montgomery County Parks and Planning also refused placing cell towers on its properties. MCPS seems to not only want the money but also turn a blind eye to issues brought forth regarding school grounds safety, proper maintenance and handling of funds.
Okay, maybe the Daly monopole meets the setback from neighborhood homes, but how many feet is it from the school itself? Since the tower was erected, has Daly lost (or lost out on) better teachers -- especially those still in their child-bearing years -- who have chosen to work at safer MCPS schools?
ReplyDeletei hope you win this fight. it is absurd that the community is not allowed to fight this based on old legislation. these towers are a risk to everyone's health- and to put one on school grounds. terrible.
ReplyDelete