Parents requesting slow down of 5G roll out as towers sit on top of their kids' schools

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus parents called Scoring Our Schools to say they want to slow down the rollout of 5G now that some of those cell phone towers are sitting right on top of their kids' schools.

"Unless we can prove that it's really safe, should we really be bringing this into our schools?" asked mother Shari Kitzmiller while standing in front of Indianola Informal K-8. Columbus City Schools leases the school's smokestack on E. Weber Road to T-Mobile for $18,000 per year. Kitzmiller's son is an incoming third-grader.

"This is a public school. Maybe we should have some decision on if we're comfortable with that," Kitzmiller said.

The Columbus mother first asked her son's principal about the smokestack last school year and then went to a district supervisor when she learned about future upgrades and construction. 5G has become a controversial issue in some cities across the country as it requires more cell towers for faster cell phone service.

"I almost felt like he was stonewalling me. He was not comfortable to talk about that," she said. Weeks later, the district forwarded Kitmiller e-mails from T-Mobile that started they were bringing 5G to the school's smokestack.

Scoring Our Schools obtained the telecommunications lease for Indianola K-8 and a second tower located at West High School. Sprint-Nextel pays CCS $24,000 a year to place its tower above the athletic field at West. The company's equipment is based directly below the bleachers with warning signs stating radio-frequency energy may exceed exposure limits. 875 students attend West High School. 700 kids attend Indianola.

"That tower sits directly above classrooms," said Kitzmiller. "There are classrooms in the back. If you go down further, you hit the cafeteria area."

Scoring Our Schools contacted the FCC and FDA in regards to Kitmiller's concerns. Both federal agencies denied requests for an interview. In emails, both stated, "The signals from commercial wireless transmitters are typically far below the radio frequency exposure limits at any location that is accessible to the public." The agencies indicated the carrier is responsible for exposure compliance and they will continue to monitor any health risk or threat.

However, production company Greater Earth Media just released its latest documentary called "5G Beware." Creator Jennifer Durant told Scoring Our Schools, "It was and is shocking to me that the FCC and telecom companies would allow this type of technology to be rolled out without any testing done. Many doctors, scientists, and electrical engineers are calling this millimeter-wave tech dangerous and are advising against it."

Within the documentary, John Humphrey who is described as an IT professional said, "The unbiased studies that we've seen coming out pretty much overwhelmingly say that this technology causes health problems, anything from headaches to cancer."

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