GILROY
– Controversy gave way to patriotism Monday morning in front of
the Luigi Aprea Elementary School campus when 6-by-10 foot American
and California flags were hoisted atop the school’s massive
flagpoles originally intended to double as cellular phone
antennas.
GILROY – Controversy gave way to patriotism Monday morning in front of the Luigi Aprea Elementary School campus when 6-by-10 foot American and California flags were hoisted atop the school’s massive flagpoles originally intended to double as cellular phone antennas.
A special flag raising ceremony was conducted yesterday by Gilroy’s Veterans of Foreign Wars post who donated the flags to the school. Cingular Wireless donated two smaller flags to the school late last year after parents and residents demanded, due to health concerns, that the company halt installation of cellular antennas inside the 50-foot poles.
“(The flags) looked awkward, and we had some parents who were bothered enough to mention it,” Principal Sergio Montenegro said.
One of Luigi Aprea’s yard supervisors, Pete Garcia, is a VFW member. When he heard about the problem, Garcia approached his club to make a donation.
“It’s great to have veterans come up to you and make an offer like that. How can you say ‘no’?” Montenegro said.
Wayne Cegelske, chaplain for the local VFW Post 6309, said his group regularly donates flags when they notice old or damaged ones around town.
The donation effectively ended a controversy that put Cingular Wireless between Gilroy Unified School District and upset parents and residents. The community members felt plans to install the stealth cellular equipment on the school grounds were not adequately discussed before work began. They worried that radiation released by the antennas at such a close range would be unhealthy for children.
Citing parent-communication concerns and not health and safety issues, GUSD Superintendent Edwin Diaz stopped the project. The district was going to charge Cingular Wireless $900 a month for renting the flagpole space, with proceeds going back to the school.
Cingular could have pressed the district to find an alternative space to locate the equipment, but instead allowed GUSD to end the contract.
“We’re not going to enter into any more contracts with cellular service providers,” Diaz said Monday.
One of the Luigi flagpoles still has remnants of the controversy. The words “this sucks” was recently scrawled onto one of them.
Montenegro said the graffiti doesn’t necessarily mean people aren’t happy with the way the situation was resolved.
“You should see what’s said about me on the bathroom walls sometimes,” Montenegro quipped. “Loitering and graffiti are constants at schools.”
