Urbana school board votes 4-3 to stop talks on cell tower
URBANA — School board members voted 4-3 Tuesday to end negotiations on a proposed 150-foot-tall cell tower between the indoor aquatic center and Urbana Middle School, after overwhelmingly negative comments from audience members.
The issue had been debated about eight months.
Also Tuesday night, the board learned that almost all district schools missed the mark on state-required testing.
School board President John Dimit, who voted against cutting off negotiations on the cell tower, said the contract could mean roughly $1 million to the school district over 25 years, and said many arguments against it were based on misinformation about "razor wire and bright lights."
Board member Peggy Patten, who made the motion, argued that opposition to the idea was nearly universal in the emails she had seen — much of it over the aesthetic question, but adding that safety issues needed to be addressed as well.
Of seven Urbana residents in public participation, one spoke for the tower.
Nancy Westcott, who has worked as a radar meteorologist, said she did not believe there would be adverse health effects.
She said the tower contract was "a good way to gain revenue for the school district."
Historic preservationist Brian Adams said the tower would be aesthetically displeasing for an area that included what he termed as the artistic treasures of the Lincoln the Lawyer statue, Carle Park and a high school designed by Joseph Royer.
Longtime environmental activist Clark Bullard warned the board against giving U.S. Cellular too much leverage by reaching agreement before permits were secured.
He offered a hypothetical situation where a student was hit by ice falling from the tower, and asked whose insurance would take care of financial obligations.
He also asked what the effect could be on property values, and told the board that it had taken most of its information directly from U.S. Cellular.
County Board member Ralph Langenheim said there were ethical issues in leasing public land to private companies and questioned whether new technologies would render the tower "obsolete in a decade or less."
Lisa Travis questioned whether there might be health concerns from the cell phone tower.
U.S. Cellular project manager John Jakobsze declined comment outside the meeting.
In other business, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Don Owen said the Illinois State Board of Education hasn't put out final figures yet, but one school, Yankee Ridge, had made adequate yearly progress in overall math and overall reading.
No other school made adequate yearly progress, he said. Adequate yearly progress is the measure of the federal No Child Left Behind law.
Owen said he'd have more information for the next meeting. He said the district does not judge its teachers, students and schools by the test scores alone.
MoreSo nice that the school board is so concerned over the neighborhood residents' welfare regarding a cell phone tower.
It would be nice if they were as concerned with the welfare of the cleaning crew they contracted to clean their schools.
No one expects to get rich cleaning for a living, but a living wage would be nice. At the maximum amount one gets paid to work in the schools in Urbana to clean, one would still be making mere pennies over the minimum wage after taxes. There are single people with children to support trying to get by on these wages.
To add insult to injury, or should I say injury to insult, a whole slew of other duties are expected from the crew in addition to their cleaning chores.
On certain shifts, they are expected to act as a crossing guard, putting out and bringing in traffic signs, they are expected to act as security guards, patrolling the halls during events, they are expected to set up and break down any event that occurs at the school, including very, very large events, they are expected to deliver books from one location to another, as well as other items, and, during the summer, they are expected to move heavy furniture, large, old desks, overloaded filing cabinets, tall bookcases, etc, from one side of the school to the other. Not to clean, although that is done in the process, but simply because the teacher changes location.
This is often dangerous, as I worked there a few summers ago briefly, and saw a fellow employee almost have a filing cabinet come down on them as it started to slip from the dolly.
Air conditioning during all this is turned off, as it is night and they want to save money as they consider the school "unoccupied". No matter that some doing this work are approaching old age.
Since leaving, I heard a rumor that they would offer one of the crew an extra quarter an hour to take on the additional duties of assistant supervisor. An extra quarter.
And, as I said, for all this they pay, at most, pennies over minimum. You can say if you don't like it don't apply there, but in this economy one often doesn't have a choice, and shouldn't any job at least treat people halfway decently? Shouldn't that be required? As well as enough to survive on? There are no cost of living increases, no extra pay for the life shortening graveyard shift.....and, when I applied, I was never told all the extra things that would be required for the wage I was getting.
I learned that the school board approved this contract again and again. I guess as long as they get a bargain they're happy, never mind the actual human beings who have to work under these conditions.
I thank God I'm out of there, but what about those who aren't? Don't they deserve at least as much consideration as the area residents with their cell phone tower.?
This post is completely assinine, and is in no way related to the topic being discussed in the article. If you'd like to complain about what appears to be your former job, do so in the appropriate forum.
Oh and a 25 cent pay raise on a minimum wage salary is a 3% raise. The national average of pay increases is currently at 3%. Quit whining.
I disagree. The original poster's comment is certainly germane to the discussion. One of the big arguments against installing the cell tower was that public / private partnerships are destructive to the district. From what I can see, there are partnerships already in place in the district that are more harmful than the proposed cell tower. Here are the following ways I can see private / public partnerships adversely affecting the district.
1) If a private entity funds a program, it comes with an implicit ability to sway choices the district makes.
2) Branding, advertisements and the like cause our students to be captive recipients of the messaging of private enterprise. I'm not sure this has a place in our public system. This is already in place with the advertisements on our scoreboards, and the giant soft drink logo in the middle school.
3) Outsourcing district employees, as we have in custodial service, food service, and transportation services does save the district money, but at what cost? These jobs no longer have health benefits or a living wage. I understand the fiscal straights the district is under, but there is a flip side to it. What is next? IT services? Administrative services? Teaching?
And, to be noted, the proposed cell tower did none of these three things.
@danrice56
You have done nothing but repost the same letter you wrote after an article about the tower on June 22. Do you not have anything different to say??
Anyway, the school district has been asking to hear from the entire school district area not just the high school neighbors before it voted. Now that a vote has been taken, everyone wants to talk about it. TOOOOO LATE!!!!! Ya'll had your chance.
And by the way, for all you whiners, since you haven't been paying attention, this has been more like 5 for and two against. Last night suddenly it turned around to 4 against and 3 for. Where have you all been?????
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