5G upgrades officially 'on-air' at Harbor Springs High School
HARBOR SPRINGS — After weeks of public comment at Harbor Springs Public Schools Board of Education meetings, with attendees upset and concerned over upgrades being done to cell towers on top of the high school, 5G is officially on the air.
According to Harbor Springs' Superintendent Brad Plackemeier, AT&T has upgraded the cell towers on top of the school to offer 5G capabilities.
The district has not been informed by Verizon about whether or not upgrades have started yet.
The companies have 30 days from when the 5G goes on the air to run tests and send a report back to the district about radio frequency levels. The district is also planning to conduct their own testing, though they have not yet decided on a firm yet.
Families connected to the school received this message from the district on Oct. 18:
“The district received notification from AT&T that their 5G technology has moved 'on-air' from the antennas located on top of Harbor Springs High School. AT&T will be testing the radio frequency (RF) levels in and around HSHS and submitting the report to the district. The school district is also arranging an outside testing company to test the RF levels in and around HSHS.”
Parents started taking to board meetings to express their concerns about the frequency levels
5G technology usually allows for faster download and connection speeds by using higher frequency waves. Plackemeier said the 5G running from the towers are running at the same frequency as before, not surpassing the 850-megahertz Plackemeier spectrum the towers were already broadcasting on.
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The five towers on top of the high school have been there since the late 1990s. Three belong to AT&T and two to Verizon. The companies have a lease agreement with the district and pay rent to keep the towers there.
Plackemeier said the district is still talking with lawyers to determine what options it has regarding breaking leases or removing the towers from the school.
Plackemeier said in September that part of the lease agreement said the cell companies can upgrade the towers, but nothing that directly impacts the structure of the building. The towers are on their own platforms and do not penetrate the roof of the building at all.
At a special school board meeting in September, board president Tim Davis said it’s important the people advocating against 5G know the board is not bringing the upgrades in.
“This is not the board as the issue,” he said during the meeting. “This is the situation we’re in … we’re not evil people trying to do something wrong.”
— Contact education reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com or on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: 5G upgrades officially 'on-air' at Harbor Springs High School
