Pasco County, Florida approved a cell tower strategy ten years ago and has erected a number of cell towers since that time. The school district noted that they expected to start hosting cell towers on school property as early as 2020, and anticipated benefiting from the revenue early. In 2021, the county constructed a school to house students of the newly created Starkey Ranch K-8 facility. According to the Tampa Bay Times, concerned parents have raised an alarm after learning that a cell tower is coming to their campus, claiming that they had no prior knowledge of this plan.
Worried parents circulated a petition citing phantom health concerns, unsourced research, and repeated anecdotes about radiation dangers. The petition asked the school board to halt plans to move forward with cell tower construction. The parents discovered that the land is not actually owned by the school district, but is the property of the county government, the result of a prior easement matter. Parents opposing the cell tower requested more time to better study the situation.
On the flip side, parents supporting the cell tower plan pointed to known dead zones in the area. “It’s a safety issue that weighs extremely heavily on my mind,” noted school board member, Colleen Beaudoin. She added that it was frightening to consider that “the unthinkable could happen at one of our schools” if poor connectivity made it impossible to summon emergency assistance from law enforcement or medical personnel.
The school district already maintains eleven cell towers on other school campuses. A twelfth site in addition to the Starkey Ranch school is also in the works following a recent approval, notes the Tampa Bay Times. The source commented that the previous cell towers did not seem to generate any controversy.
After listening to both positions, Superintendent Kurt Browning suggested that, “Instead of this Board taking the heat now, let the County Commission act first.” The recommendation was acceptable to both supporters and detractors who agreed to meet again on April 18 to continue the cell tower discussion.
Reader Interactions