Governor Gavin Newsom

It has come to my attention that you intend on expanding Broadband to California schools during this COVID-19 crisis. I applaud you for taking action on this important subject. And, since you’re going to do this, why not do it right?

In your statement you relayed that you would like to implement online and alternative learning programs, expand technology investments for schools and Increase Title 1 funding, broadband internet upgrades and grants for digital-age instruction. 

This is a broad statement and I’d like clarification on what exactly you mean. I believe your initiative to upgrade broadband internet during this COVID-19 crisis is imperative and hope that you will work with experts to find the fastest, most secure, safest broadband for our students. California deserves the best and let’s face it, that’s wired technology! This may fly in the face of everything you have been told, but let’s think about this for a minute.

First, my assumption that you will be looking at expanding wireless is based on the following.

From the largest school district in California LAUSD: Education Technology Plan for LAUSD, it is clear that LAUSD has planned since 2006 on implementing wireless systems as upgrades to their internal IT infrastructure, which includes their Unified Radio Communication System which requires:

The Unified Radio Communication System is in the planning phase with an estimated design and requirements completion is 2nd Quarter of 2019. FCC mandates and significant advancements in radio and wireless technologies during the last ten years requires: 

• Developing an architecture that includes current and future radio and wireless technologies 

In their 2018 IT Execution Plan it states:

Expected Outcomes :

• Increased radio system reliability and availability; 
• Increased interoperability with other First ResponderAgencies; 
• Increased interoperability with cellular and wireless technologies; 
• Unified radio communication system 
• Improved in-building coverage

Completed Implementation Performance Monitoring & Management of the Wired and Wireless Infrastructure tools and infrastructure; project completion allows: 

• Monitoring and managing 91,636 network wireless access points; 
• Monitoring and managing all network switches and wireless controllers;  

And 5G may not be on your mind as an alternative to expanding broadband, but I can assure you it’s in the mind of the Telecommunications industry! Below are links to other cities in the U.S. where they have prominently posted how 5G will be incorporated into the schools.

Verizon announces 100 5G Schools by 2021
Verizon pledges to bring 5G to 100 Title I Schools
New Connectivity Resources to Support You During the COVID-19 State of Emergency Vermont
5G for Education is finally here Cleveland 

And while we are all hunkered down to flatten the curve, Telecom has crews working, adding wireless infrastructure around Contra Costa County and other California communities during the COVID-19 Shelter in Place! We have documented locations of several sites. This includes wireless 4G antennas and possibly 5G!?

As well, many schools have already been approved for wireless antennas outside their classrooms after the FCC passed Streamlining Rules in 2018 that removed barriers for carriers and further tied the hands of local governments from placing restrictions on these wireless antennas. If school officials  are going to deny antennas on the school property, Telecom will just place them right outside, on the public right of way!  This will only add to the existing, overall radiation exposure of our children.

As Mayor of San-Francisco, you have shown rare leadership when you called out the telecom companies’ fraud. Since then, the evidence of harm has become clearer. Most recently, The 2018 Federal government’s National Toxicology Program study found CLEAR EVIDENCE that this radiation causes cancer and breaks DNA. Clear Evidence is the highest level of certainty! Thousands more studies proved profound harms from wireless technology radiation. 

In 2018 the CA Dept of Public Health published guidelines admitting that peer reviewed scientific studies show evidence that this radiation may cause DNA damage, reproduction harm, cancer and learning disabilities among other effects and the American Academy of Pediatrics has published recommendations that we tighten exposure restrictions around this  technology. How can you deploy more wireless in school to improve learning when the evidence is showing it is harming learning and heath? We have to question what is motivating you to deploy more wireless radiation in schools when credible evidence exists showing harm? 

In 2014, the CA Medical Association passed a resolution calling on the FCC to update its health guidelines as the scientific evidence shows profound harms. On February 2, 2020 the Children's Health Defense submitted a lawsuit in the US Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit, against the FCC, challenging its decades’ obsolete health guidelines. Among the petitioners are parents of children from CA who have become sick from cell towers and wi-fi in their schools and doctors attesting to the epidemic they see in their clinics including among children. 

Government Code Sec. 659641.1(f) gave a special exemption from mandatory approval of  wireless siting applications for wireless telecommunications facilities on fire department facilities. This was passed out of concern regarding firefighters’ exposure to harmful radiation. Why are we protecting firefighters but harming our children? 

Further, peer reviewed scientific studies have shown that the radiation emitted by wireless technology, adversely affects the immune system. In a time when we are trying to manage a pan-epidemic and need to strengthen our immune system, we should encourage the population, and especially our children who are a vulnerable population, to reduce their exposure to this harmful radiation rather than force more of it. 

We ask you not to allow any further deployment of harmful wireless infrastructure during the schools’ shutdowns, over Spring Break and beyond, on school campuses across our state. We ask you to prevent telecom companies from deploying 5G “small cell” antennas or “Hot-Spots” under the false pretense of improving technology for learning. Any further upgrades should be with wired ethernet cables, which provide faster, safer, more secure and more reliable service. 

Considering the clear evidence of potential harm to our children from this radiation, we do not consent to any further expansion of wireless emitting devices in our California schools. Education Code Sec. 51101(a)(7) grants the right for parents to ensure that the school environment for their child is safe. Exposing children to this radiation, especially over the objection of the parents and children, directly violates the schools’ duty to provide a safe environment and our right to ensure they do. We ask for you to cease and desist any further installations. The radiation batters the children and violates their civil rights and our parental rights.

Furthering the deployment of more wireless when the scientific and human evidence of harm are clear, is being on the wrong side of history. We know that considering the power of the Telecom industry, leading on this issue takes courage. You have shown you have the courage – and there is no more important time to continue to show this courage than with protecting the health of our children, including your own.

I hope we can remember that Governor Newsom stood up to the corporations and put the safety of our children before corporate profits.

Thank you for your time and dedication.

East Bay Neighborhoods for Responsible Technology &

Stop 5G Contra Costa County