Several Local Schools Get Wireless Internet Access

The DeKalb County School District has plans to outfit the entire system by winter.

The DeKalb County School District has undertaken a fast-paced technology plan to make 123 schools and centers wireless by the winter. With a total price tag of $4.5 million, the project is funded through the Special Purpose Local Options Sales Tax. Currently, 14 schools and centers are completed with an average of one access point per two classrooms. The completed schools are Cedar Grove High, Chamblee Middle, Clarkston High, Coralwood Center, International Student Center, Kittredge Magnet School, Lithonia High, Lithonia Middle, Margaret Harris Comprehensive School, Miller Grove High, Peachtree Middle, Redan Middle, Tucker Middle and Warren Technical School. The cost for the 14 so far is nearly half a million dollars. “We are pleased with …

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'Non-Binding' Cell Tower Vote to Go Before Residents July 31

The July 31 vote will have little effect on tower proposals at the nine schools already agreed to T-Mobile leases, including Briarlake Elementary, Lakeside High and Margaret Harris Comprehensive schools.

Residents will be able to vote this month whether they like the DeKalb County School System placing cell phone towers on school properties. The vote won't necessarily have any affect on the school system's policies, but it could at least give school board members an idea of voter sentiment, according to CrossRoadsNews, in a story published three days ago. From the story: The referendum was created by House Bill 1299, sponsored by state Reps. Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates), Michele Henson (D-Stone Mountain), Rahn Mayo (D-Decatur) and other DeKalb legislators. Drenner, a six-term representative and a radiation physicist, embraced the referendum after House Bill 1197 which she sponsored to ban towers from other school grounds failed. …

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Cheryl Miller

9:50 am on Monday, September 10, 2012

Also important to note that School Board Representative Paul Womack, who was the one pushing for these towers to go through before a Superintendent was hired and when school was out for Summer, has real estate investments as well as family and friends in the Oak Grove community. It wouldn't be difficult to see how a few of them might be persuaded to vote "yes" to cell towers at schools while …   more ›

Walker Sticks to Position on Cell Phone Tower Issue

DeKalb County Board of Education Chairman Gene Walker defended this week the school system's plans to build revenue-generating cell phone towers on several school sites in the North Druid Hills-Briarcliff area.

Gene Walker, the DeKalb County Board of Education's chairman and District 9 representative, defended this week the school system's plans to build revenue-generating cell phone towers on several school sites across the county, including the North Druid Hills-Briarcliff area. From an article published Wednesday in Neighbor Newspapers: Meanwhile, Board of Education Chair Eugene Walker expressed his dismay at the commissioners’ handling of and take on the issue. Commissioners overstepped their bounds and are being disrespectful of the school board, he said. “We’re not circumventing anything,” Walker added. “We’re operating on the authority we have. “And, clearly, we have different opinions about the possible effect of cell towers … we’re …

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Cheryl Miller

12:16 pm on Friday, April 13, 2012

FYI, the extended deadline on their due diligence periods is, by our calculations, July 11, 2012. At that point they either must file for the permits or back out of the deal because they have big money due at that point per their contract with the school system. T-mobile, of course, wrote an "out clause" for themselves, but the boad wasn't bright enough to suggest one might be a good idea for …   more ›

Residents Protest School Cell Phone Towers at Drenner Hearing

State Rep. Karla Drenner hosted a hearing regarding incoming cell phone towers on school sites in DeKalb County.

A group of mostly frustrated DeKalb County residents packed a legislative hearing room in downtown Atlanta on Tuesday to protest the construction of cell phone towers on several county school sites. The hearing was organized by state Rep. Karla Drenner, D-District 86, about a week after the legislator said she was made aware of residents still protesting the DeKalb County School System's contract with T-Mobile, which was approved in July. The contract will place towers at a number of schools, including Lakeside High School, Briarlake Elementary School and Margaret Harris Comprehensive School in the North Druid Hills-Briarcliff area. North Druid Hills-Briarcliff Patch blogged live from the hearing.

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Noel

11:01 pm on Saturday, April 14, 2012

If you truly "don't like the idea of cell towers on school grounds" then show a little respect for the people who feel the same way instead of making assumptions about a wide variety of people who do not deserve your snap judgment or petty insults. It takes a pretty cold person to try and find fault with Moms (and Dads, too, by the way) wanting to protect their children and the sanctity of their …   more ›

Briarlake Parents Unsure of Next Move in Cell Tower Fight

With the DeKalb County School System determined to let T-Mobile build a tower at Briarlake Elementary School, parents there aren't left with many options.

Parents at Briarlake Elementary School upset with the forthcoming construction of a cell phone tower on school property are unsure of their next move as the school system and T-Mobile move forward with their plans, a PTA board member said. "We had hoped that [DeKalb County School System Superintendent Cheryl Atkinson] would have given this issue some time," said Stephanie Byrne, a Briarlake Elementary PTA board member. "She has decided that this is not worth her time." Atkinson and a school system spokesman told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last month that the deal between the system and T-Mobile was considered done, and the system was not open to challenges. "We respect the opinions about this," school spokesman Walter Woods said to …

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Cheryl Miller

2:27 am on Tuesday, December 6, 2011

If you want to know what is really outdated: try the FCC Telecommunications Act of 1996. This is the gospel that we are all being held accountable to when clearly the use of cell phones both in duration of time, age of the end user and widespread use throughout our communities when "mobile" or at home has changed. Should the safety standards be updated to reflect what we know today so that we are…   more ›

Margaret Harris School-Area Residents Fight Cell Tower Proposal

Neighbors of the Margaret Harris Comprehensive School said they were not notified of a proposed cell phone tower on school property, but now that they know about it, they are actively fighting it.

People in the neighborhoods surrounding Margaret Harris Comprehensive School are protesting a proposal to place a cell phone tower on school grounds, saying they were not made aware of the proposal in a timely manner. Resident Joe Staley said that a meeting held at the school in May to propose the tower was met with no opposition. However, this is because of the nature of the school itself. Students at Margaret Harris live all over the county, so the method the board used to spread the word about meetings held in May regarding the proposed towers—a flier sent home with students—did not reach any of the school’s immediate neighbors. “Of course none of us got any notice. That’s why we’re all here now,” he said. Staley has been calling DeKalb…

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Cheryl Miller

2:17 pm on Friday, December 2, 2011

Debbie, the website you referenced has done nothing to help anyone. The tower is going up right now in the backyard of the person who started that group as a way to deflect attention from the only truly objective group already trying to unite the schools ... http://www.getthecelloutatl.org. We are the ones that informed Briarlake before they decided to take things off in another direction where …   more ›

Briarcliff Heights Residents to Meet Tonight About Cell Tower

Residents near the Margaret Harris Comprehensive School on Knob Hill Drive will meet tonight to fight a proposed cell tower there and discuss, if necessary, a lawsuit against the school system.