WSB-TV NEWS VIDEO: Fight Brews Over Cell Towers On School Grounds

The Fight Continues Over Cell Towers On School Grounds

(click headline for the full story)

George Howell reporting, Channel 2

Updated: 10:22 a.m. Monday, July 11, 2011

Click photo above to play video.

WSB-TV, Channel 2 Action News,  has finally re-posted the original newscast that aired July 10, 2011, in the 11 p.m. news and then again several of the newscasts the following day leading right up until the DeKalb County school board's vote that evening at the public meeting. Thank you to Channel 2 and George Howell for taking an interest in our story and helping us get the word out to others.

Immediately following the vote, we were interviewed in the parking lot outside the "Palace" and the so-called "partial victory" was announced.  We were surprised that Brockett was taken off the list as we had assumed that the fate of all the schools had already been pre-determined.  At one point, the board members discussed removing some or even all of the other schools which we had been advocating for from the very beginning.  Because that did not happen, we decided to stay involved with this issue and follow it through to the end, whatever that may be.  

The transcript of the story is below:

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Parents opposed to a proposal to put cell phone towers on DeKalb County school grounds worked to spread the word Sunday.The fight will be resolved in a school board vote Monday.

With a petition in hand, Paul and Cheryl Miller gathered as many signatures as possible against putting a cellphone tower behind Brockett Elementary School, where their daughter attended Pre-kindergarten.

"This is putting her health in danger, and absolutely, this is why I am speaking out and I hope others will do the same," Cheryl Miller told Channel 2's George Howell.

The other schools on the table include Brockett, Briarlake, Flat Rock, Jolly, Medlock, Meadowview, Narvie J. Harris, Princeton and Smoke Rise elementary schools, Margaret Harris Center and Martin Luther King Jr. and Lakeside high schools.

Cheryl Miller said she's concerned about radiation emitted from the tower and questions why T-Mobile, which is in the process of being acquired by ATT, needs a tower in a residential area.

"We don't see why our school would possibly be one of the ones that would help," she said. She said she’s concerned that not enough parents are informed of the issue.

"Most people aren't even aware that this is probably going to happen," she said. DeKalb School Board Chair Tom Bowen said there have been several meetings discussing health concerns.

"We've received a significant amount of feedback, but based upon the information that we've received, the safety, which is of paramount concern of the district, is within acceptable levels," Bowen told Howell.