WYANDOTTE, Mich. (WXYZ) — Parents in Wyandotte voiced their concerns to the school board Tuesday night about a 5G cell phone tower that was placed on an elementary school building. This comes nearly two weeks after the district held an informational meeting for parents that erupted in chaos before being shut down by police.
The new 5G cell tower was nowhere on the agenda, but parents made sure it was a large portion of the meeting during public comment.
“We're good people, were all good people. We're coming to you out of a place of fear,” said parent Michelle Hodgkinson.
For more than an hour, parents in Wyandotte made clear they want the new 5G cell tower gone.
“I'm not asking you to remove cell towers from the city. I'm asking you to remove a cell tower from on top of my developing child's school,” said parent Nicole Zeld.
The tower at Washington Elementary was approved by the board in 2018 but was just recently installed. Many parents say they weren’t aware, and now fear the tower's radiation will be harmful to their kids.
“It's in its infancy," Hodgkinson said of 5G. "We're scared, we're scared for our children.”
The American Cancer Society does not have an official position on the issue, noting there is no strong evidence that exposure to cell towers has noticeable health effects. However, they also say the towers have not been proven absolutely safe.
“We are uncomfortable with the unknown risks," Zeld said. "Throughout history, new technologies have been created and we learned the risks after the fact.”
The tower was constructed in partnership with T-Mobile, who will pay the district $1,000 a month. The Superintendent says they have complied with all state, federal, and city requirements, adding that the FCC says there’s no reason to believe it’s a health hazard.
“I teach at Washington and that tower is directly outside of my classroom and I look at it every single day,” said Denise Knapp during public comment. “I am in fear for my grandchild, who is in the building. I am in fear of my neighbor's children, who are in the building. I am in fear for my cousin's children, who are in the building. I am in fear for myself.”
Some teachers and many parents hope the district will reverse course and back out of the deal, removing the tower before they remove their kids.
“We are going to be pulling our kids from this school if this tower gets turned on,” said parent Nicole Bryzelak.
“I love this district," said concerned Wyandotte resident Jill Conte. "We are Wyandotte and we are better than this.”
One board member told the crowd they would fight for the concerned parents. The next school board meeting is April 11.
