Wyandotte superintendent resigns amid cell tower backlash

Wyandotte — The Wyandotte Public Schools superintendent resigned Wednesday after nine years leading the district amid backlash over the lease of a T-Mobile 5-G tower at Washington Elementary School.

Catherine Cost's resignation was announced after the board of education returned from closed session during a special board meeting Wednesday evening. Many parents in this Downriver community argue the cellular technology threatens the health of students and the issue has dominated meetings and online discussions among some parents.

Board president Cindy Kinney and others did not provide details about what led to the departure, which was effective immediately, the board said.

Cost was not at the meeting. She did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday night.

Kinney told The Detroit News the board is exploring steps to replace her but did not elaborate.

"That'll be coming up in the next week or so," she said. "There's a plan."

Some of the dozens of people who filled the meeting applauded after the board unanimously voted to accept the resignation of Cost, who was hired in March 2014.

"I think tonight was a big step in the right direction," said Joshua Castmore, who has spoken against the cell tower plans.

Emily O'Donnell, a parent in the district who also objects to the tower at the school, said Cost "was not willing to negotiate."

O'Donnell said she hoped the many others who rejected the tower plans would be heard.

"Our goal is to not have a 5G tower at our kids' school that's not secure," O'Donnell said.

Parents, grandparents and residents packed the district administration building for the meeting and many spoke during the public comments portion.

Katie Teets, whose 9-year-old daughter attends Washington Elementary, is considering moving over the issue.

"My house is literally across the street," she said. "We’re going to get double exposed. ... It’s not worth my daughter’s health."

Though she applauded the superintendent's resignation, Teets said many in the community would not feel satisfied until the tower is removed.

"We're hoping and praying," she said.

Kinney had said at the start of the meeting that the board would not discuss the cellphone tower or the five-year lease. Its attorneys also advised the members to stay silent.

"That is all I can tell you right now," Kinney told the audience.

After the meeting, she told The News their outcries have not gone unnoticed.

"I appreciate their concerns," Kinney said. "I listen all the time."

The antennas were placed on the school chimney and await activation, which prompted a group of parents, fueled by a national network of skeptics, to speak out in February and demand its removal.

Other critics have spoken out, including through a Facebook page dedicated to the tower or in the videos of parents shouting at a March school board meeting where police were called, or the bumper stickers demanding the superintendent's firing.

School officials say the antennas have been analyzed and would emit radio frequency waves that are "well, well below the legal limits, and will not cause harm to children," Cost said in a letter last month on the district website.

Dozens of parents pulled their children out of school for a day two weeks ago and marched in protest about the five-year lease of the cell tower with T-Mobile.

"I don’t want to live near something where there is sketchy science," said Jen Balcom, a parent in the district, on Wednesday. "Nobody can look at me and tell me the kids are safe."

T-Mobile has said the tower will be activated after June 9, when school concludes for the year.

The FCC's guidelines for evaluating human exposure to RF fields, which were updated in 1996, say "Exposures exceeding the guidelines levels, however, are only likely to be encountered very close to, and directly in front of, the antennas. In such cases, precautions such as time limits can avoid exposure in excess of the guidelines. Individuals living or working within the building are not at risk."

When the guidelines were written, 5G, or fifth generation cellular technology, didn't exist.

It wasn't immediately clear when the board would publicly address the issue again.

Kinney said she could not comment more on the plans but "we're working on it really hard."

Board secretary Kathleen Kane told the audience that research and discussions go into the district's plans. "It takes a lot of consideration on our part to look at all those facets and facts in order to move forward into the future."

Kane also pushed back against criticism that she didn't care about any potential effects of the tower, noting she has a grandchild at Washington.

"Yes, I'm a grandmother and .... yes, I do care," she said.

mhicks@detroitnews.com