A planned upgrade of cellphone antennas at the Bureau of Jewish Education has alarmed parents at the Lisa Kampner Hebrew Academy, the BJE’s neighbor, who have resolved to bring their concerns to the San Francisco Planning Commission.
Last spring, the BJE agreed to allow AT&T Wireless to increase the number of cellphone antennas on its roof, replacing the one that has been in place for 14 years at 639 14th Ave. The school is next door at 645 14th Ave.
Though the Planning Commission has yet to approve the plan, parents have wasted no time making their feelings known to school administrators.
“Parents are petrified,” said Rabbi Pinchas Lipner, the academy dean. “Under no condition do they want the antennas to go up, because they are scared for the safety of their children.”
Lipner said parents will pull their children out of the pre-K-to-12 school — the only Orthodox Jewish day school in San Francisco, with 96 students — should the cellphone antennas go up.
The proposal before the commission involves removing existing antennas and installing up to six state-of-the-art panel antennas and associated equipment cabinets. The antennas would be enclosed in two faux chimneys.
AT&T pays the BJE for the use of its roof space. That revenue is sorely needed, and executive director David Waksberg has no concerns regarding the safety of the antennas.
“We’ve done research,” said Waksberg. “There’s no indication of any risk to anyone that we can tell. For us, [safety] was a nonissue. We’ve had a cell tower on the roof since 1997. I’ve never gotten a complaint from any neighbor, including the school.”
The Planning Commission meets at noon Thursday, Nov. 3, with the antenna use permit on the agenda. Lipner and many academy parents plan to attend, and he expects others from the neighborhood to show up, as well.
“It’s a very big problem,” said Alex Keselman, whose daughter attends Hebrew Academy’s preschool. “If they put up this antenna I will take my child from the school. We’re not going to have any choice.”
Keselman claimed that radiation from cell antennas causes “many different diseases, like cancer,” though he could not point to any scientific proof.
According to the American Cancer Society website (www.cancer.org), antenna radio waves are emitted at a frequency so low “there is no reason to believe that such towers could constitute a potential health hazard to nearby residents or students.”
Lane Kasselman, a local spokesman for AT&T, stressed that antennas are not only safe, they are everywhere.
“If you live in San Francisco, you’re passing dozens of antennas without even knowing it,” he said. “On health effects, the radio frequency emitted from cell antennas is regulated by the FCC. A typical cell site is hundreds, even thousands of times below their national standards, and [the BJE] site is no different.”
Waksberg met with a group of approximately 30 Hebrew Academy parents earlier this month, though the meeting did not go as well as he’d hoped.
“When I met with the parents, I offered to bring some independent scientific experts,” Waksberg said. “They said they were not interested. They’d made up their minds.”
Waksberg declined to state the amount AT&T will pay the BJE, but he said revenue earned from the antennas would “potentially pay for one Jewish educator for one year,” so he has strong motivation to push for the installation.
He is aware that if parents withdraw their children from Hebrew Academy because of the antennas, the school would lose money. If the antennas are blocked, then the BJE would lose money.
But Waksberg is convinced the antennas are safe.
“I’ve got 30 people working in our building, and I don’t want to put any of them in danger,” he said. “If there were health risks, we would clearly say it’s not worth doing.”