ODESSA, Fla. — Erin Stroupe and Serena Arnold are just two of the parents in the Starkey Ranch community of Pasco County who have been spending a lot of time learning about cell phone towers and the danger they say those towers pose.
“We are not anti-cellphones. We are not anti-technology. We are anti putting a cell phone tower in the playground of our school,” said Stroupe.
The Pasco County School Board is voting on plans to allow a cell phone tower to be built next to Starkey K-8 in Odessa.
Parents of children at the school have been working to keep that from happening.
They said they are worried about health issues from having their children exposed to radiation.
“There’s radiation that’s admitted from these towers and there are research studies that show that it is linked to some pretty serious health concerns,” said Stroupe.
The American Cancer Society said, “there is no strong evidence that exposure to RF waves from cell towers causes any health effects.”
But they said that does not mean they are absolutely safe, and “most expert organizations agree that more research is needed to help clarify this, especially for any possible long-term effects.”
Pasco School District’s Director of Planning, Chris Williams, said they’ve referred to the American Cancer Society, FDA, and FCC before approving towers on school property.
“We’ve had them since 2010 was the first one we did, and we have no prevailing evidence that says they are unsafe. Cell phones also emit that same type of radiation,” said Williams.
But because of unknowns, many parents at Starkey said it’s not worth the risk.
“I feel like we are talking about safe responsible decisions for kids all throughout the district. I hope that they heed our concerns and they really take time to understand the decisions they are making," said Arnold.
The school district already has 11 towers on other school sites.
They make $20,000-$30,000 a year from letting companies build towers on school property.
The district said if they say no to the towers, companies can build in a different spot that’s still close to the school.
