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Parents press Parkland board on student safety, staff misconduct and Project Atlas risks
Summary
Multiple public commenters urged the board to act on student safety and to take a clear position about Project Atlas, raising past staff‑misconduct cases and stressing potential noise, traffic, water and health impacts from the proposed data center adjacent to Parkland High School.
Several public commenters used the meeting’s public‑comment period to press the Parkland School District board on two clusters of concerns: student safety and the proposed Project Atlas data center.
Laura Warmcastle (public commenter) addressed an expulsion agenda item and said, "The trust is eroding," citing repeated parent complaints about bullying and past widely publicized staff cases. She asked the board what immediate steps are being taken to ensure student safety, emotional well‑being and transparency. Michael Bodner and other speakers called for the district to publicize any strong safeguards the district already uses and, if such safeguards do not exist, to develop and share them publicly.
On Project Atlas, commenters Maha Younis and Karen Lowry urged immediate action and criticized what they called the district’s silence. Lowry described the proposed 5,100,000 square‑foot industrial campus as placing substations, cooling systems and diesel generators near school athletic fields that thousands of students use and said that the township noise consultant’s review was incomplete when planning documents were issued. Commenters asked the board to submit a formal position letter to the township now rather than later and to press for third‑party technical studies.
Board members and administrators responded that the district had already sent a May 5 letter to township staff, PPL, LCA and the developer outlining concerns, that staff had been meeting with experts and township staff, and that the district will continue monitoring and engaging with stakeholders as the township review proceeds.
