Monday, April 8, 2013

Starr Bringing Verizon Cell Tower Compound to Red Zone School Playground

Yellow dots show existing cell tower
compounds on public school playgrounds.
The Parents' Coalition has learned that Superintendent Joshua Starr has given Verizon permission to make a presentation to the Forest Oak Middle School PTA tomorrow evening.  

Superintendent Starr is putting another cell tower on a school playground and this presentation will be to "sell" the cell tower compound to the PTA and check the "community" input box.



Tuesday, April 09, 2013
Forest Oak Middle School PTA Mtg. 7:00 pm


This is extremely interesting since last summer the Montgomery County Board of Appeals (see page 59-60) was told that MCPS was no longer willing to put cell towers on school sites unless they were attached to stadium lights. Middle schools don't have stadiums.

Apparently, Superintendent Starr is willing to put a stand alone cell tower compound at Forest Oak Middle School.  We note that once again a cell tower compound is headed for a playground in the red zone.

Montgomery County Board of Appeals. See page 59-60.

9 comments:

  1. Governor: Martin J. O'Malley
    Lt. Governor: Anthony G. Brown
    Attorney General: Douglas F. Gansler
    Comptroller: Peter Franchot

    US Senators:
    Barbara A. Mikulski
    Benjamin L. Cardin

    US Representative (Maryland District 6):
    John K. Delaney
    State Senator (District 17):
    Jennie M. Forehand

    State Delegates (District 17):
    Kumar P. Barve
    James W. Gilchrist
    Luiz R. S. Simmons

    Precinct 09-20

    Council District 3 Phil Andrews
    School District 1 Judith Docca

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  2. I wonder if the neighbors know about this, or is the meeting limited to the PTA?

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is hard to know where to start. Hopefully folks will check this site out. Hopefully parents will educate themselves on the danger of cell towers.
    http://wifiinschools.com/studiesreports.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Too late. The Board of Education has handed over all authority to build these cell towers to the Superintendent. (Probably illegal because the BOE owns the land.)
      The Superintendent can put up a cell tower without telling anyone. He will tell a few PTA parents and then when this goes before the Board of Appeals those 5 or 6 parents will "count" as community notice.

      Neighbors will have no clue what is happening until the tower is up. Talk to the Kennedy High School and Sligo Middle School neighbors for real life stories.

      Well, except that the Sligo Middle School neighbors found out about the cell tower right before the Board of Appeals approval and a Motion to Dismiss stopped the construction in its tracks. No cell tower on the Sligo Middle School playground. That was one Red Zone neighborhood that fought back and stopped the placement of a cell tower compound in their backyards.

      http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2011/06/t-mobile-withdraws-petition-for-sligo.html

      Delete
  4. Judy Docca won't say anything about this cell tower proposal at Neelsville. She didn't say anything about the one at Daly ES just down the road. Why should she start now?

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  5. Phil Andrews is running for County Executive. He may be interested. And, the council is very concerned about the BOE budget, esp. going above maintenance of effort (MOE). If you can testify at the budget hearings this week, it is worthwhile. If you can't be ther in person, make sure to email the council.

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  6. It is a sad sad day when money is made with no regard for children's health especially considering the evidence is accumulating on cell tower radiation. The FCC just put out an item asking id the US should take a precautionary approach for children.

    " the Commission invites health and safety agencies and the public to comment on the propriety of our general present limits and whether additional precautions may be appropriate in some cases, for example with respect to children. We recognize our responsibility to both protect the public from established adverse effects due to exposure to RF energy and allow industry to provide telecommunications services to the public in the most efficient and practical manner possible. In the Inquiry we ask whether any precautionary action would be either useful or counterproductive, given that there is a lack of scientific consensus about the possibility of adverse health effects at exposure levels at or below our existing limits. Further, if any action is found to be useful, we inquire whether it could be efficient and practical.”
    http://ehtrust.org/fcc-releases-long-awaited-item-on-rf-exposure-standards/

    Would a move towards protecting children from cancer, neuron damage and a damaged immune system be efficient or practical?

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    Replies
    1. The concentration of tower-free schools are the better performing (green zone) schools -- schools that have higher white and more affluent populations, too. So doesn’t the placement of these cell towers violate the BOE’s own policy on Quality Integrated Education? Doesn’t the placement of these cell towers violate the Civil Rights Act and the rights of students and their families to Equal Protection under the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution?

      Delete
    2. Excellent observation. We will post your comment as a separate blog piece.

      Delete

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