Cell tower defeated

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Cell tower defeated

Lawrence A. Plumlee

This is from the Walt Whitman High School Principal in Bethesda, Maryland, USA

To the Whitman Community,

For the past several weeks, segments of the Whitman community have been
embroiled in discussions regarding the possible placement of a cell tower by
T-Mobile on Whitman¹s school grounds. This possibility emerged when I
allowed T-Mobile to examine the school grounds to test the viability of such
a structure. I did this because for the past several years, I have had some
community members express dismay over the lack of service in certain
sections of the area.

After T-Mobile made a proposal, I started the established steps that other
schools have followed which essentially placed a tremendous burden on our
PTSA leadership. The procedure calls for the PTSA to provide open
communication about the issue to the school community and to forward
emerging opinions to me and ultimately to the MCPS central office. I want
to publicly thank them for assuming a challenging task.

The PTSA leadership and I have met several times lately to share the input
that we have received, and it is strongly evident that the discussion about
the cell tower is causing a great tension among neighbors as persons weigh
in with opinions and concerns. The PTSA has done a remarkable job of
soliciting and posting both Pro and Con reactions despite not having a range
of resources to assist them. As the controversy has moved beyond the
boundaries of the Whitman community, it has complicated the PTSA¹s intentto
facilitate a forum for input and a recommendation that accurately reflects
its community¹s input.

I am a strong advocate for civic discourse and for helping our students see
a democratic process take place on controversial issues; however, we have
several ways to educate our students, and watching portions of the Whitman
community lose their collective sense of purpose and commitment to work
together to educate our students has become the greater concern.

The possible placement of a cell tower is not worth fracturing the community
with such discord, and I have concluded it is not in Whitman¹s best interest
to move forward with placing the cell tower on our campus. Continuing the
process will only add to the schism. For that reason, I have asked the
PTSA, and they have agreed, to cease the process and cancel Tuesday¹s
meeting. Although this may understandably disappoint some members who
wanted to share their views and vote on Tuesday at the PTSA meeting, I am
instead asking the Whitman community to step back from this discussion and
to refocus and reenergize our commitment to the partnerships we already have
in our schools and to enhance them. Let the adult energies move back to
volunteering in the classroom, on the playgrounds, in booster organizations,
to sharing professional expertise as guest lecturers, to attending
extracurricular activities, to helping our students in numerous ways. Let
the Whitman community join together to continue to maintain what Bethesda
Magazine once called the ³Whitman Mystique,² a community dedicated to
nurturing and promoting educational excellence. Thank you.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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Re: Cell tower defeated

Paul Coffman
So is there any indication the arguments against it had anything to do with
health/esens? or just the usual aesthetics arguments?

On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 12:42 PM, Lawrence A. Plumlee <[hidden email]>wrote:

>
>
>
> This is from the Walt Whitman High School Principal in Bethesda, Maryland,
> USA
>
> To the Whitman Community,
>
> For the past several weeks, segments of the Whitman community have been
> embroiled in discussions regarding the possible placement of a cell tower
> by
> T-Mobile on Whitman¹s school grounds. This possibility emerged when I
> allowed T-Mobile to examine the school grounds to test the viability of
> such
> a structure. I did this because for the past several years, I have had some
> community members express dismay over the lack of service in certain
> sections of the area.
>
> After T-Mobile made a proposal, I started the established steps that other
> schools have followed which essentially placed a tremendous burden on our
> PTSA leadership. The procedure calls for the PTSA to provide open
> communication about the issue to the school community and to forward
> emerging opinions to me and ultimately to the MCPS central office. I want
> to publicly thank them for assuming a challenging task.
>
> The PTSA leadership and I have met several times lately to share the input
> that we have received, and it is strongly evident that the discussion about
> the cell tower is causing a great tension among neighbors as persons weigh
> in with opinions and concerns. The PTSA has done a remarkable job of
> soliciting and posting both Pro and Con reactions despite not having a
> range
> of resources to assist them. As the controversy has moved beyond the
> boundaries of the Whitman community, it has complicated the PTSA¹s intent
> to
> facilitate a forum for input and a recommendation that accurately reflects
> its community¹s input.
>
> I am a strong advocate for civic discourse and for helping our students see
> a democratic process take place on controversial issues; however, we have
> several ways to educate our students, and watching portions of the Whitman
> community lose their collective sense of purpose and commitment to work
> together to educate our students has become the greater concern.
>
> The possible placement of a cell tower is not worth fracturing the
> community
> with such discord, and I have concluded it is not in Whitman¹s best
> interest
> to move forward with placing the cell tower on our campus. Continuing the
> process will only add to the schism. For that reason, I have asked the
> PTSA, and they have agreed, to cease the process and cancel Tuesday¹s
> meeting. Although this may understandably disappoint some members who
> wanted to share their views and vote on Tuesday at the PTSA meeting, I am
> instead asking the Whitman community to step back from this discussion and
> to refocus and reenergize our commitment to the partnerships we already
> have
> in our schools and to enhance them. Let the adult energies move back to
> volunteering in the classroom, on the playgrounds, in booster
> organizations,
> to sharing professional expertise as guest lecturers, to attending
> extracurricular activities, to helping our students in numerous ways. Let
> the Whitman community join together to continue to maintain what Bethesda
> Magazine once called the ³Whitman Mystique,² a community dedicated to
> nurturing and promoting educational excellence. Thank you.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>  
>



--
Paul Coffman


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]