DeKalb County Schools is considering contracting with T-Mobile to allow up to 12 wireless cellphone towers to be constructed on various school campuses.
T-Mobile has been holding informational meetings at potential school sites for the last two weeks. The company says the towers would improve cellphone coverage in the area, and be an additional source of revenue for the district.
But critics worry about the potential health hazards the towers could have on nearby schoolchildren. As of February, Gwinnett, Forsyth and Cherokee counties did not allow cell towers on school property. Forsyth was approached about a year ago concerning building towers, but after two public forums, school board members did not pursue the agreement.
DeKalb is looking into the towers as another source of revenue, said Steve Donahue, executive director for plant services.
"A lot of parents are asking, ‘What's in it for the schools?'" he said.
In Cobb County, more than 20 schools have towers, with each bringing in $150,000 every five years. Sixty percent goes to the school and the remainder going into a fund for schools without towers. The contracts are 15-year deals. But the school board in February voted to table indefinitely the construction of a T-Mobile cell tower at Compton Elementary after opposition from nearby homeowners.
T-Mobile has presented DeKalb with several different lease options, which, over time, could generate from about $450,000 to $1 million per site, depending on the length and structure of the contract. The school's Parent Teacher Association could get a one-time payment of $25,000.
The district has not decided how the money would be used or distributed. The board has not scheduled a date to vote on the proposal.
The proposed sites are Margaret Harris Comprehensive; Briarlake, Brockett, Flat Rock, Jolly, Princeton, Smoke Rise, Narvie J. Harris, Meadowview and Medlock elementary schools and Lakeside and Martin Luther King, Jr. high schools.
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