AGAINST a T-Mobile 150' (15 story) cell tower at Margaret Harris Comprehensive School
The DeKalb County School District has undertaken a fast-paced technology plan to make 123 schools and centers wireless by the winter. With a total price tag of $4.5 million, the project is funded through the Special Purpose Local Options Sales Tax. Margaret Harris and 13 other schools have been completed with an average of one access point per two classrooms. Read more about this project at…Margaret Harris Gets Wireless Internet
Neighbors gathered to talk to Channel 2 news about the recent payments to local schools from T-Mobile.
Link to Channel 2 News Coverage
Contracts have been signed, but no permits have been issued yet for our school.
Below is an e-mail that was sent to DeKalb BOC on March 26.
Dear Commissioners,
Today we had a bit of a fire drill for cell tower construction at the schools. Construction crews showed up at our neighboring school, Margaret Harris Comprehensive School. A neighbor there put out the alert and several of us put out calls to the county code compliance number and to Commissioners Rader and Boyer. It was determined that there was no permit and ultimately the work crew left. Hurray for the system! Thank you Jeff Rader and Bob Lundsten for your quick efforts!
This event brings a good opportunity for a reminder of the issue. T-mobile is still in contract with the DeKalb BOE to erect 9 cell towers on 9 school properties. Thanks to your letter sent to the DeKalb BOE last year, I know that you are committed to keeping our school yards safe and protecting the integrity of our neighborhoods by upholding county code. It was written almost exactly one year ago on March, 27! How’s that for timing?! Here is a link to that letter for your reference:
http://www.nobriarlaketower.org/updates/bocrecommendsdekaklbceoupholdlocalzonongregs
I’d like to thank you all for your continued commitment to keep our school yards safe and our neighborhoods intact. We are working to inform the new DeKalb BOE members of the issue of the towers in hopes that they will cancel or end the contract. If you have the opportunity, we’d appreciate you passing a word to them as well.
Sincerely,
NBT
Here is a copy of the plan for the tower that puts the tower less than 200 feet (192′ to be exact) from the door where every day children are dropped off by bus. In case you were wondering, there are published studies in the US as recently as 2010 documenting that children are more susceptible to RF radiation.
Coverage on the issue and our fight: Briarcliff Patch, 29 November 2011
By Emma Harger November 29, 2011: Neighbors of the Margaret Harris Comprehensive School said they were not notified of a proposed cell phone tower on school property, but now that they know about it, they are actively fighting it.