After nearly four months of debate about the risks and benefits of a proposal for a new cell phone antenna next to the baseball field, principal Alan Goodwin and the PTSA agreed to reject the proposal and cancel the PTSA vote scheduled for Mar. 16. Goodwin sent an email over the Whitnet listserv Sunday March 14 to explain his reasoning.

“The possible placement of a cell tower is not worth fracturing the community with such discord,” Goodwin wrote in the email. “I have concluded it’s not in Whitman’s best interest to move forward with placing the cell tower on our campus.  Continuing the process will only add to the schism.”

Had the vote occurred, community members would have made statements in support or opposition to the proposal at the PTSA meeting. Members would then have voted on the PTSA’s official position on the issue. The final decision is subject to the approval of superintendant Jerry Weast.

“It was becoming more evident that there wasn’t going to be a consensus for having the cell tower,” Goodwin explained. “To continue the growing discord for having the meeting would have exacerbated the tensions in the community.”

Goodwin said he received 20 emails during the day after his email. Some agreed with his decision and others expressed disappointment, but no one thanked him for conceding that the cell tower would harm the community.

“Although this may understandably disappoint some members who wanted to share their views and vote on Tuesday at the PTSA meeting, I’m instead asking the Whitman community to step back from this discussion and to refocus and reenergize our commitment to the partnerships we already have in our schools and to enhance them,” he wrote.  “Let the adult energies move back to volunteering in the classroom, on the playgrounds, in booster organizations, to sharing professional expertise as guest lecturers, to attending extracurricular activities, to helping our students in numerous ways.”