District 150 has found a new way to get revenue: allow private companies to erect cell phone towers on school property.
In November 2008, the City Council approved a request for U.S. Cellular to erect a cell phone tower at Loucks Edison School (now Thomas Jefferson), 2503 N. University St. Sources tell me the the school district will receive $2000 per month from this lease arrangement, and that more cell towers are planned on other properties, including Whittier School. Putting cell towers on school and church property is common — but controversial — all over the country.
The controversy is over safety. The Federal Communications Commission has several documents regarding cell tower (or “cell site”) radiation levels, and they’ve basically determined that they are very safe. “Measurements made near typical cellular and PCS installations, especially those with tower-mounted antennas, have shown that ground-level power densities are well below limits recommended by RF/microwave safety standards,” says OET [Office of Engineering and Technology] Bulletin 56 (p. 21). Well enough below limits that such cell sites “are considered ‘categorically excluded’ from the requirement for routine environmental processing for RF exposure” by the FCC, according to “A Local Government Official’s Guide to Transmitting Antenna RF Emission Safety.”
Not everyone is convinced. People Against Cell Towers at Schools (PACTS) is an organization started by citizens in Tampa, Florida, that believes cell phone towers should not be placed on or near school playgrounds. They cite a litany of research, including a 2004 article from the American Academy of Pediatrics which stated children are more susceptible to extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields and recommended “additional research and the development of precautionary policies in the face of scientific uncertainty.” In fact, most of the research cited takes a similar approach. For example, the American Cancer Society is quoted as saying, “we do not have full information on health effects… in particular, not enough time has elapsed to permit epidemiological studies.” In other words, exposure to ELF magnetic fields may or may not be dangerous, and until we know for sure, we should limit exposure to children. Furthermore, in response to appeals to the FCC’s report of cell site safety, they say “government agencies have a bad track record in protecting us against long term threats. Think about some of the major oversights in health threats such as tobacco, lead paint, DDT, PCBs and asbestos.”
So far in Peoria, there appears to be little or no concern. The cell tower at the University St. school building had no public opposition. However, that might be because the request went through after the school was closed and before Thomas Jefferson school was relocated there due to the fire at their Florence Avenue facility. The forthcoming request for a cell tower at Whittier will likely be the bellwether of public reaction to the idea.
One other concern that is expressed about cell towers is that they are not exactly aesthetically pleasing. Some communities try to hide them by making them look like trees — seriously. When I was in California last year, I saw a number of cell towers disguised as palm trees. Pictures on Google show towers camouflaged as pine trees, too. Clever, eh?
Being under a cell phone tower is probably safer than being out/away from it. The antenna arrays are designed to send outward in a radiant pattern, not blast downward.
In a related study, it was determined that a tinfoil hat is an effective shield.
Unbelievable! And here I was upset when schools started making money from candy and soda machines–that were left on all day to make as much money as possible in spite of rules stating that students shouldn’t eat and drink in classes. Hyper students bouncing off the walls!
Why not put a cell phone tower on Wisconsin Avenue!
LMAO! Yes, Sharon.. put the tower on Wisconsin!
nontimendum: in that case, the administration will definitely put it over themselves… to do themselves the least amount of harm while disregarding the danger to others…
Putting cellular towers on school property sounds a little desperate to me, but I guess that is the stage the District is at.
On another note, I can’t believe the new bell times were implemented for next year with so little protest??? This does not seem like the right move at all to attract new young families into the District. In so many families these days, both parents work and they need to be out of the house before mid-morning. Seem very unworkable.
I LOVE Whittier but I am so tired of the district. Every year it is a fight about something…so many bad ideas that you have to pick what bad idea to fight and what to let go. Re the bell times, all the research says that the little ones should go to school early and the HS should be the last to start. So our district does it the other way. Why do what the research says?!? But maybe that was a fight that parents let go to save up the effort for an unknown at this time bigger fight that is sure to come. Maybe the cell tower is that fight.
So how many new Admins can they hire with the income from the cell phone towers?
Whittier Mom, I understand your “frustration.” My children attended Kellar Primary, and all and all, it was a satisfactory experience, however, being part of District 150 offers parents little to be joyful and optimistic about. Eventually I think families get tired and worn out and decide it is easier to switch than fight anymore. I know many of the families in my children’s classes have exited the District even though they were please with the academics. They simply did not like the direction the District was headed and were concerned about what the future holds.
Two layers of foil for you, kc.
Big deal. The District will collect some much needed funds, so what? Cell phone towers are all over and from what I see, good thing because every time I see a woman turning left without a turn signal, she’s yakking on the phone. Bradley has a cell phone tower on their big tower on Main St. The top of some bank building (Can’t recall the name this week) by the mall is lined with cell antennas. They are everywhere because people demand to yak from everywhere. So the district gets creative and allows some on district property, big deal. For Christ sake, is there anything this district can do that some of you won’t bitch about? Get a tin foil hat if you’re worried. Everything is fight and it shouldn’t have to be.
Why not lease Expo Gardens for a toxic waste dump?
How about pay toilets?
Putting a stripper pole in the gymnasiums and charge the students (and parents) to watch the cheerleaders dance?
There are lots of ways to increase income… none of them good.
There are also lots of ways to reduce expenses…MOST of them good.
End teacher tenure. Put teachers on 3-5 year contracts.
Eliminate ALL administrative personnel. Rotate the teachers (however many are needed) through the administrative positions at the end of their 3-5 year contracts for 1 or 2 years, and then back in to the classrooms.
ALL education employees get paid the same… teachers, counselors, administration… why? Because they are the same people.
ALL support staff people get paid the same LIVING wage with benefits. Why? Because they are human beings who are indispensable to the operation of the school… and if they are not… buh bye!
Stop building and maintaining sports facilities in the schools. Maintain a state of the art Central Pool and Peoria Stadium-like facility for ALL the schools to share. DE-emphasize sports.
Ditto-theater facilities. Utilize the resources of the area (Players, Cornstock, etc).
Richwoods, for example, does not need a theater to have drama and performance education. They, could use Peoria Players. (OR, on the other hand, utilize these resources for the community… like Eastlight at East Peoria)
Teacher certification? Get rid of it. It is a joke that produces sheep for the system, not educators interested in children. If a teacher can’t perform, give them the option to becoming an aide or janitor until they learn how to teach.
Model the schools after the Montessori and Free School systems that produce human beings and not fodder for the labor market.
In Madison, MS, a cell tower masquerades as a replica of the Washington Monument.
My brother is an electrical engineer and has lived all over the world developing and installing cell phone networks in emerging countries. I posed this question to him.
He told me that any household who uses a wireless router, a wireless network on their computer or a wireless phone is emitting more radio frequency radiaton in to their child’s environment than a cell phone tower would. Allowing your child to use a cell phone is in essence doing the same thing. He said that, in fact, you can even broadcast radio frequency through your brain my moving your head and opening your mouth. LMAO over that but it’s true!
I asked him if there was any danger presented by the cell phone towers themselves. He said they will be properly fenced and short of some idiot scaling the fence and climbing up them there is no electrical or other hazzard that they would present.
He also said that federal law has declared that “RF radiation poses no harmful affects to humans” (Of course that and a quarter will buy us a cup of coffee) and therefore parental concerns over safety cannot be used as a factor in denying a cell tower location.
This is one issue the School District is probably right about!
kcdad: why not fire everyone at the schools and let the parents run the district? Geez, we’re talking about cell phone towers for revenue not brain surgery.
I just think we all were taken aback by this new way of generating revenue for schools. If this is one way to make up for the $40 million deficit, I guess I’d have to say sobeit. Maybe District 150 can find even more commercial ways of bringing in revenue–certainly, fast food restaurants, pop machines, etc., are already paying for some extra-curricular expenses that were once supported through taxpayer money. I believe it may have been C.J. who mentioned all the stuff that kids have to sell throughout the year. Consumerism seems to be a permanent component of today’s schools.
Diane: Stop confusing people with accurate facts from someone in a position to know. This is the community that refused to allow a revenue-making hazardous waste landfill to expand because of the scare tactics from the Sierra Club. The average Peorian is no more capable of understanding the science behind cell towers than they are are the economics behind taxation.
ELF is below 30 Hz. In the US, cell phones use frequencies of 700,000,000 Hz and greater thus rendering the study utterly moot on the question of cell towers at schools.
Can you dumb it down for me, IDNKM? Not sure if you are agreeing or disagreeing with my comments above…
He could, but hedonotknowhim.
So can I put one in my back yard?
It is 300 feet deep and I know that Sprint only draws one bar here!
This is not a new concept. Schools all over the country cleverly locate cell towers on their premises. Often, a school will contract with the cell company to have the athletic field lights and poles replaced and designed to accommodate the cell antenna and field lights. Along with this, they secure a lucrative contract which aids in funding and in theory makes their tax rate less likely to go up.
As CJ states, they can be disguised as palm trees, pine trees, and even made to blend in with building facades and towers. Churches especially like to locate these antennas on the top of over sized crosses or on steeples.
I do caution that the faux-palm trees and faux-pine trees are not imperceptible from actual trees, but when properly designed and planned they can be very inconspicuous.
Steve Jon 19 Mar 2009 wrote:
In Madison, MS, a cell tower masquerades as a replica of the Washington Monument.
In Washington D.C., what is the Washington Monument masquerading as?
Emtronics on 19 Mar 2009 Wrote:
kcdad: why not fire everyone at the schools and let the parents run the district?
GREAT idea! We could be the first Home School District in the country! Take THAT, AYP!
Talk about stimulating economy… every parent gets an extra $15,000 per student… The libraries would actual get some use, there would be a need for museums and other educational structures. We could sell the school buildings and other properties for use as mental hospitals, drug treatment centers, occupational learning centers and deprogramming centers for victims of the public school system.
Emtronics, you are a genius!
The study cited refers to ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) magnetic fields. Cell phones operated in the UHF (Ultra High Frequency) band. Cell phone frequencies are more than 23 MILLION times higher than ELF. So the study is totally irrelevant when discussing cell towers.
The wireless industry..in addition to hooking people on wireless devices…has conned the American public into believing cell towers are not a public health issue. Schools and churches and many municiplaities and private property owners have been hooked by the money. And blinded by the money, too, to the facts about the science.
Meanwhile in Europe the EU Parliment has voted that the safety standards for EMF are “obsolete” and numerous countries are moving to tighten up their RF and ELF safety standards to magnitudes more strict that the FCC standards. The FCC did not determine what standard would protect the public’s health, but adopted the telecommunications industry’e professional organizations standards. So we the American public have the illusion of protection with standards that international scientists are warning are thousands of times too lenient. For example the FCC standards for exposure to PCS is 1000 microwatts/cm2 vs the recommended standards of 0.1 microwatts/cm2 recommended by non-industry scientists. That’s a difference of 10,000.
Numerous courts in France are now ordering either the prohibition of construction or ordering the removal of cell tower antennas near schools and residences. These decisions are based on the sceince at hand and implimentation of the precautionary principle.
You folks should wake up to what is happening world wide. The US is lagging in understanding the adverse biological effects of both near-field and far-field exposure to ELF and RFR. Read the sceince at bioinitiative.org. And the Venice Resolution, the Benevento Resolution, the Cantania….to name a few.
Well said, village voice.
Allow me to clarify one point: “The US is lagging in understanding” is not completely clear,
The U.S., that is, the government and the corporate entities involved in this industry are not lacking any understanding… they are perfectly aware of what they are doing.
If you meant that the general population of the United States was unaware, THEN I agree.