More News

I am writing to convey the concerns of more than 200 Walt Whitman High School neighbors and parents regarding the proposed T-Mobile cell tower on the school's campus. We strongly oppose the construction of the 120-foot cell tower and have thus far gathered the letters and statements of 220 opponents of the tower. The remainder of this letter summarizes some of our concerns.

One of the concerns expressed by many cell tower opponents relates to potential health and safety issues associated with the proposed cell tower. Professor Ted Litovitz of Catholic University, a physicist and expert on electro-magnetic radiation, offered his pro-bono services to Walter Johnson High School in that school's successful 2004 effort to block a cell phone antenna on its property. Professor Litovitz, Professor Martin Blank of Columbia University, Professor Reba Goodman of Columbia University and many other scientists have reported adverse health effects (headaches, dizziness, fatigue, insomnia, leukemia and other cancers) from electromagnetic radiation at levels well below the FCC guidelines. The National Research Council (2008) has called for additional studies on the long-term health effects of exposure to cell towers and has recommended the form that such studies should take.

In the interim, many scientists have urged policymakers to adopt the "Precautionary Principle" and avoid exposing children to cell tower radiation. Many other countries and some jurisdictions in the U.S. have prohibited cell antennas and towers near schools due to these health and safety concerns. In the case of Whitman, potential health and safety issues are especially important not only because of the exposure to our children attending Whitman, the staff who are employed there and the families with homes surrounding the school property, but in view of the proximity of the proposed tower to two nursery schools: the Kenwood Park Children's Center, which is housed in a wing of the Whitman High School building and Montgomery Child Care at the River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation, which is adjacent to the Whitman campus.

We are also concerned that the placement of a 120-foot tower on the Walt Whitman campus would destroy the character of the established residential neighborhood that surrounds the campus. The goal of Montgomery County zoning laws that pertain to the location of telecommunication facilities (Zoning Text Amendment 95028) is to encourage the placement of antennas and towers at less intrusive sites, such as on industrial and commercial lands. Erecting a tower 12 stories tall in the middle of a neighborhood of single-family homes is counter to the spirit of county zoning laws. In addition, the impact on property values that would likely result from an unsightly and potentially hazardous cell tower is unfair to the many homeowners who invested in the Whitman neighborhood precisely because of its current character.

We are also deeply concerned about the commercialization of Montgomery County's public schools that the proposed Whitman cell tower represents. Other than as a source of funding there is no link between the cell tower and the educational mandate of MCPS. Whitman High School would be leasing public property solely to generate revenue. Pursuing such options distracts school officials from their mission to provide high quality education to the children of Montgomery County and moves them into the arena of making money for the school. As parents, residents and taxpayers in Montgomery County, we continue to provide funding to our public school system in the form of income taxes, property taxes and voluntary contributions. We do not want our public schools to be raising funds by renting land to commercial enterprises.

It is also the case that the amounts that would be received by MCPS from T-Mobile, were the tower to be built, are extremely small relative to the MCPS budget and do not justify building the tower on school property. Montgomery County Public Schools would receive rent of $24,000 per year from T-Mobile, $8,000 of which would go to Walt Whitman High School. These amounts need to be put in context: $24,000 is approximately 1/100,000 of the annual budget of MCPS, which is over $2.2 billion. The $8,000 to be received by Walt Whitman High School amounts to approximately $4 per student per year. When the costs of contract administration, insurance, third party verification of electromagnetic emissions and potential liability costs are considered, the net amount received is even smaller.

We are not alone in opposing a cell tower on the Whitman campus. Several jurisdictions in the United States and abroad have banned the building of cell towers on school grounds. The European Union in April 2009 adopted a resolution encouraging the establishment of setback criteria for wireless antennas and other electromagnetic emitting devices located near schools. In 2000, the Los Angeles Unified School District adopted a resolution opposing the siting of cellular facilities on or in close proximity to schools. Palm Beach, Fla. has adopted a similar resolution, as has Vancouver, British Columbia. In February 2010 a bill was introduced in the Connecticut legislature to prohibit the siting of a cell phone tower within 750 feet of school or day care center property. Several schools in Montgomery County — Walter Johnson and Thomas Wootton High Schools and Pyle Middle Schools — have successfully fought the building of cell towers on their campuses.

We all appreciate the need for good wireless communication services in Bethesda. There are, however, alternate sites where T-Mobile can locate its antennas to provide these services. This may cost T-Mobile more than building a tower on the Whitman campus, but the appropriate use of school property is not to subsidize the profits of T-Mobile — it is to provide our children with an education that develops the student's potential to be a lifelong learner and a productive global citizen.

Maureen L. Cropper, Bethesda