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| Against Cell Towers at Brockett Elementary in Tucker and All Schools in DeKalb County. CLICK and then JUMP to 41:18 in the video. |
(click headline for the full story)
These folks represent a cross section of our entire county - from the North to the South and everywhere in between. They may have all come from different backgrounds, but they all agreed on one thing - cell towers have no value to our schools and this decision was not supported by the parents or the community.
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| Against Cell Towers at Jolly Elementary in Clarkston\and All Schools in DeKalb CountyCLICK and then JUMP to 13:09 in the video. |
Literally hundreds of us have now attempted to go through the proper channels. But, the process keeps changing and we are directed back and forth between departments of the goverment, between the county and the state, between legistaors and school board members, from PTA officers to T-mobile and AT&T.
We cannot get any answers on timeframes for applications, instructions about the process, our rights to voice our objections, the terms of the existing contracts, the law that the commissioners are stating that the school board is claiming will allow them to bypass our zoning codes. In fact, there is not even a law on the books that states a four-year board with an Interim Superintendent can approve a contract this lengthy for ANY use of school property. And there have been legal examples where it is spelled out that proprietary (commercial) use of active school property is NOT permitted.
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| Against Cell Towers at MLK High School in Lithonia and All Schools in DeKalb County. CLICK and JUMP to 16:40 in the video. |
We believe cell towers are dangerous and may pose serious health risks to young children. It does not matter where these children come from or whether or not they have families who are aware of the dangers. They are children. They do not deserve this. They have a HUMAN RIGHT to be educated in an environment that is as safe and free from industrial health hazards as possible. No amount of money is worth taking a chance with a child's life.
If these towers go up, and parents find out too late, not only will we be bringing an eyesore to many beautiful residential areas, but we will also force many of the involved parents to make the choice to abandon their neighborhood school.
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| Against Cell Towers at Brockett Elementary in Tucker and All Schools in DeKalb County. CLICK and JUMP to 43:50 in the video. |
We are appealing publically to our elected officials and asking for answers on behalf of the children of DeKalb County - all of our children. The children are the most vulnerable and yet they are the ones that will be placed at greatest risk if this lease of public school property is allowed and these permits are issued.
A precedence will be set with this decision. We want it to be the right one. We ask our leaders to please provide us: Ethics, Transparency and Accountability.
Please take the Open Meetings Law an the Open Records Act seriously and allow the people you represent to tell you how they feel, especially on issues that are of controversy and importance like this one!
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| Against Cell Towers at Briarlake Elementary in North Decatur and All Schools in DeKalb County. CLICK and JUMP to 47:08 in the video. |
Get the Cell Out ATL was formed not to FIGHT with our leaders, but to help pick up the slack with regard to the notification of the cell tower proposal to the parents and homeowners whom would be most directly affected. We had intended to share our own personal research and information in hopes it might assist other families determine what they needed to do if they wanted to oppose the tower planned for their neigborhood, just like we were able to organize our community in support of the removal of the tower at Brockett in Tucker.
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| Against Cell Towers at All Schools in DeKalb County. CLICK and JUMP to 57:09 in the video. |
In an effort to be good role models, good neighbors, good parents, good friends, we made it our goal to do what we could to reach out to the 9 schools still on the cell tower list after 3 schools were removed, including ours.
We spoke up in as many ways as we knew how and with the limited resources we had available to us. We will continue to speak up in ways that might be meaningful or helpful if it serves the purpose of helping our county unite for the benefit of all children. We will not participate in events that we believe are intended to favor one school over another.
That was the entire reason we continued to stay involved even after our school was removed from the list. We did not want to be a part of an issue that, in our minds, was so clearly wrong for any school and a danger for any child.
We disclosed every tidbit of advice and every bit of information we had accumulated with anyone from any school that requested our help. All we asked was that also speak on behalf of all schools because a single cell tower at a single school allows a huge door of opportunity for a presedence to be set that could have devastating consquences for all our schools, all our children and all of our neighborhoods.
We did not want to be in the middle of controversy. We did not ask to be victims of retaliation. We are not "activists" or "fear mongers" and we do not despise technology. We claim to have all the answers about the political issues, the educational chaos or the many other debates that are a part of our seeminly broken system.
We do not have political aspirations nor do we even have a clear picture of which people are on which side of whatever imaginary fence that prevents them from working together.
ASK QUESTIONS - SEEK THE TRUTH
At the heart of this controversy is a very important lesson that I hope parents will try to impress upon their children. That lesson is: when you do not understand something, ask questions until you do. If you do not believe what you are being told, seek the truth for yourself. If you think there might be a better way to do something - find it.
Reasonable questions deserve reasonable answers. At the very least, don't our questions deserve to be recognized and acknowledged? Doesn't it disturb you to hear that someone can sign off on a 30-year lease in this economy without even reading the contract or remembering the terms and clauses that will impact three generations of citizens?
YOU CAN BE A PART OF THIS PROCESS. BY SPEAKING UP, YOU ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO DO THE SAME.
BY ASKING QUESTIONS AND SEEKING THE TRUTH, WE CAN HELP ENSURE OUR OFFICIALS ARE DOING THE JOBS WE ELECTED THEM TO DO.
UNITE OUR COUNTY.
LOVE THY NEIGHBOR.
PROTECT OUR CHILDREN.
If we have important news updates such as meetings or tower constuction, we will still post here. But, the commentary and interpretation is the part we will leave up to you.
- Please reach out to others.
- Tell them about this website.
- Decide for yourself if this issue deserves your involvement.
- And, please VOTE in your upcoming elections.
- And VOTE RESPONSIBLY!
- And encourage others to vote based on the good of the entire county.
Good Luck!
And, we will still answer questions if we can via email at sayno2celltowers@yahoo.com.
You can also read the NEW School Watch Blog 2 at its new home here: http://dekalbschoolwatch.wordpress.com/
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| Thinking that wireless will save you a lot of trouble? Think again! New fiberoptic wired networks are replacing wireless technology in the classrooms of Canada. Why? Because they are faster and don't expose to RF radiation dangers. They also are more secure and reduce the liklihood of computer theft at schools. |
Thank u for everything u have done for us in Tucker. We appreciate that simeone is looking out for the children!
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