Maya Lin School parents seek removal of cell tower

Parents at Maya Lin School are asking schools officials to move cell phone antennae perched on the school’s roof to a building that doesn’t house children and to use an upcoming contract renewal as an opportunity to review whether the deal to put a cell tower on the school was inked legally.

A school district spokeswoman said the district has heard parents’ concerns and is reviewing the contract, and that district officials will look into whether the equipment can be moved to a different site. Superintendent Kirsten Vital announced during the March 11 school board meeting that the district would be reaching out to Maya Lin families and that meetings will be scheduled to discuss the issue.

Parent Sarah Feldman, who launched a petition seeking removal of the cell equipment that had been signed by 130 people as of the March 11 meeting, researched the cell towers and the district’s history with them after learning from another Maya Lin parent that the school had one on its roof. Feldman said she’s concerned about the potential health effects of the radiation the towers emit, and she wants families whose children are attending the two-year-old magnet school to have a say in whether they should be there.

Schools leaders approved contracts with wireless companies to place the towers on top of Wood Middle School in 2002, Maya Lin in 2004 and Alameda High School’s Larry Patton Gym in 2005. The contracts generate tens of thousands of dollars a year for the school district’s facilities fund; the Maya Lin contract has so far generated $252,000, district spokeswoman Susan Davis said, $45,000 of it in the form of a one-time contribution that paid for a new playground at the school.

Feldman said she understands the towers provide revenue to the school …read more

Source: Alameda News From The Alamedan