Friday, July 20, 2012

CBS Investigative Reporter Wendy Saltzman Writes to DeKalb School Board and Superintendent

GTCO-ATL Note to Readers:  How does this relate to cell towers?  When we started paying attention to the schools that were supposed to be getting cell towers, we also started to notice the electricity waste taking place.  We are following this story as we have wondered if perhaps the cell tower schools were ramping up their electricity use intentionally (by command from higher up's) so that when the cell towers came online and started using our school's electricity as paid for by the taxpayers that the year-to-year numbers would not look extreme and therefore no one would notice that the towers added a huge amount to electric use.  That, of course, all remains to be seen because we still do not have any word from our county CEO Burrell Ellis on whether or not any permits for T-mobile will be approved against the wishes of the communities, the county commissioners and the state legislature. 

We were also in touch with the Georgia Smart Meters opposition group that the cell towers inside our neighborhoods could have a connection to the smart meters Georgia Power is installing on our homes.  The smart meters need cell towers to communicate our usage data back to their headquarters.  So, in case Georgia Power is involved in placing these dangerous towers on our school grounds, we thought it would only be fair for us to make sure they are not getting too much of our money in others ways since they seem to think they are entitled to a lot more than we think a private citizen should have to give up just for use of electricity - our privacy, our health, our public school grounds.  What's next?  Well, CBS Investigative Reporter Wendy Saltzman is on our side and holding the school board and its spokesman accountable!  We'll be watching her station to see what she learns in her ONGOING investigation about the waste of our money in our own schools. 

If not for this waste, maybe the school district would have never been so desparate to have to consider cell phone towers as an "alternate revenue stream" to begin with.  Read on for Wendy's letter, dated 7/20/12:


Dear School Board Members and Superintendent,

I know all of you are very busy with the budget right now, but I wanted to follow up on the report we aired on Tuesday.  I was very dismayed when I received an email from a parent saying the lights were still on (not just security lights, but lots of lights) day and night at the schools we identified in our reports and others.  I was told by Jeff Dickerson the issue was being looked at when we spoke on Tuesday.   I would like to find out what the school district is doing about this issue. We will continue reporting on it, as the school district is already $6 million over their budget for electricity.

Here is a link to my report:

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/19045960/school-lights-left-on-tough-questions-about-waste

I have received a large response from parents, and was made aware the story has also been posted on two other sites. 

https://dekalbschoolwatch.wordpress.com/2012/07/19/lights-left-on
http://tucker.patch.com/articles/tucker-schools-in-cbs-investigation-of-electricity-waste

Here is the email I received from a parent just today that I found concerning.  Please advise what the district is going to do moving ahead, as I plan to follow up on your progress next week.

Just a quick update to let you know the electricity issue / efficiencies of our schools made it to the list of questions for candidates at the school board forum at Arabia Mountain High last night.  And we don’t even know who submitted the question, but everyone there seemed to be very aware of it.  The board members (current) seemed a little embarrassed by it.  But, you know what... I drove by Brockett today and darn if those outdoor flood lights weren’t still on in the daytime!  Ugh!  Maybe they are on because of the weather, but we will keep checking when it clears up and see if there has been any change to the practices of these schools since your investigation.  Here are a few of my notes from the candidate forum regarding this issue:

The answers were all over the place:

Jim McMahan (Dist. 4):  We need to do what we can do; efficiencies for all departments are a must
Dr. Pam Speaks (Dist. 8):  Need to hold the superintendent accountable
Dr. Rivers-Cannon (Dist. 6):  Need less administration and paperwork so the little things will get done faster.
Latasha Walker (Dist. 6):  Need to identify where the waste is coming from.  You can’t fix what you don’t know.
Tom Gilbert (Dist. 4):  It’s not that big of a deal.  At Home Depot, we leave our lights on, too.
Jim McMahan (Dist. 4):  Well, we don’t  have the money of Home Depot; maybe your boss can donate some motion sensors to our schools since we cannot afford to keep our lights on like that.
H. Paul Womack (Dist. 4):  Listen, here is the deal with the lights. I called the Superintendent and asked her to check into it and that is all I can do.

Enjoy your day and thanks for all that you do!

Thank you,


Wendy Saltzman
Chief Investigative Reporter
CBS ATLANTA NEWS
Direct: 404-327-3031
Fax: 404-327-3074
Cell: 404-606-0460

Wendy.Saltzman@CBSAtlanta.com


  

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