The Petaluma City Schools District has signaled the school board will consider prohibiting cell towers on school property, just as several other school districts have done. Parents and community members testified in opposition to school cell towers at the January 30, 2024, Petaluma City Schools District Meeting after a request by a wireless infrastructure company to add more equipment on the existing cell tower site at Casa Grande High School. They raised the issue of cell tower health effects and the need to protect children.
The board members did not move forward with the cell tower company request for more space and instead said they would consider a resolution to ban future cell towers on school property. Environmental Health Trust and Physicians for Safe Technology. sent scientific letters to Petaluma City Schools District.
“Extensive published scientific evidence indicates that radiofrequency radiation at levels compliant with federal government limits can cause cancer, increased oxidative stress, genetic damage, structural and functional changes of the reproductive system, memory deficits, behavioral problems, and neurological impacts. We consider radiofrequency radiation (RFR) to be a human carcinogen based on the current body of evidence. Many of these effects could be irreversible with grave consequences for our children’s future,” reads the letter from EHT.
“You have an obligation not only to teach, but also to protect the health and safety of the children whose parents have placed them in your trust. Several decades of research in the military and occupational setting, as well as basic science indicates that the use of wireless technology poses a risk to the health, mental function, behavior, memory and learning of students. Considering all of the evidence, placing a cell tower directly on a school campus with a “wait and see” approach seems unwise financially and morally,” reads the Physicians for Safe Technology letter written by Executive Director Cindy Russell.
School districts nationwide are prohibiting cell towers on school property, especially in California where Los Angeles Unified School District, Palo Alto, Calif. Unified School District, and Temecula Valley Unified School District have passed resolutions opposing cell towers on school property.
This December, the Temecula Valley Unified School District passed a resolution prohibiting new wireless telecommunication installments on Temecula Valley Unified School District’s school grounds. These prohibitions include
- new wireless telecommunication installments
- any extension or renewal of existing cell tower leases
The resolution also requests and supports the City of Temecula immediately establish local municipal zoning setback rules of 1,500 feet or more for operations of wireless telecommunication transmitters near a school site.
Executive Director of Environmental Health Trust Theodora Scarato highlighted how the Los Angeles School District Office of Health and Safety has developed a “cautionary level” for radiofrequency radiation that is 10,000 times lower than FCC regulations because “it is believed that a more conservative level is necessary to protect children, who represent a potentially vulnerable and sensitive population.”
“Schools should be safe environments for kids. U.S. government FCC limits for cell tower radiation exposure do not ensure safety as FCC limits remain unchanged since 1996. They were designed for short term effects like overheating, not long term effects like cancer or neurological issues,” said Ms. Scarato.