Cancer diagnoses prompt teachers to leave KC-area school: ‘A risk to stay’
When students at Liberty’s Warren Hills Elementary return to class at the end of the summer, they’ll be seeing a lot of new faces.
That’s because, amid concerns about several cancer diagnoses at the school in recent years, about 21 staff members — of the school’s total of 80 or so exempt and nonexempt employees — won’t be coming back in August. That includes not only teachers and other certified staff, but also paraprofessionals and other employees.
Of those who are leaving, nine are among the school’s 25 classroom teachers. The district’s numbers show that as 8.5 teachers because, a spokesperson said, one teacher split time in another building. That’s 34 percent of the school’s classroom teachers, all planning on leaving.
Not all departures appear to be related to the health concerns, and many are considered typical turnover for a school. But those familiar with the situation say several are leaving because of cancer diagnoses and how they feel the district has handled the situation.
“I never thought I was walking out of Warren Hills until I was retiring,” said a long-time teacher, who was diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago. “But I just knew, for my mental and emotional well being, that I just needed to start a new chapter.”
She and multiple other teachers who have taught at Warren Hills for years spoke to The Star on condition their names are not published. They said they fear retaliation and the stigma of speaking out about the cancer cases that have drawn scrutiny as teachers have asked the district to do more testing and determine if something at the school is making people sick.
Since 2020, six teachers have been diagnosed with breast cancer and another was diagnosed in 2013. At least three other staff members have had other types of cancer, including cervical and throat. Advocates now are searching for past students and former teachers to gather information about any diagnoses or major health concerns they’ve had since leaving the school.
In response to questions about staff members leaving, the district said schools often have turnover and the numbers at Warren Hills at the end of this year are in line with some annual departures of exempt and nonexempt employees at the school since 2020. One year, according to the district’s information, had more departures than this school year.
Some students, including Cory Brown’s two children, won’t be back at Warren Hills either. The Brown family opted for private school, specifically because of health concerns and the number of experienced teachers leaving.
“The staff turnover is a factor we considered when deciding to transfer to private school,” Brown said. “The potential safety risk was the biggest factor, but turnover was definitely a large concern.
“It’s sad to see so many teachers and staff go at once, but we understand and we believe their concerns are valid. … To us, it’s a risk to stay. And our experience at the school wouldn’t be the same with so many beloved staff members leaving.”
Parent Jena Servatius says she hates to see decades of experience walk out the door.
“I do wonder about who is going to be left to teach my kids,” Servatius said. “There’s still definitely some teachers that I know are staying that are wonderful, but it’s just a lot of unknown.”
History of questions
A small group of teachers first voiced concerns in the fall of 2022, after three breast cancer diagnoses in a row, about a month in between each one. And those came after two cases in 2020.
In 2022, the district contacted the Clay County Public Health Center to initiate a study. The center’s analysis ultimately determined there was no evidence to suggest that the breast cancer rate at Warren Hills was higher than expected. At that time, it was decided that no further environmental investigation was warranted.
Since then, concerns have resurfaced and grown after a beloved teacher died this past fall and another teacher was diagnosed with breast cancer late last year.
The district conducted further testing this spring. Early results show no asbestos in the drywall at the school, officials said. More results on water, air quality and soil are expected this summer.
Much of the consternation centers around a 120-foot cell tower located 130 feet from the school. It’s been there since shortly after the school opened in 2006.
The potential health impacts of cell towers, especially near schools, is a hotly debated issue. The American Cancer Society has said there’s “no strong evidence” that exposure to radiofrequency (RF) waves from cell towers causes “any noticeable health effects.”
The nonprofit, though, according to information on its website, also says “this does not mean that the RF waves from cell phone towers have been proven to be absolutely safe.” ACS said that most expert organizations have agreed that more research is needed, “especially for any possible long-term effects.”
Specific Absorption Rate limits set by the Federal Communications Commission nearly 30 years ago are outdated and need to be revised, some experts say. These limits from 1996 account for 30-minute exposures. Children and teachers can be at schools for 35 hours a week, if not more.
In a May 14 email to staff, Steven Anderson, chief operations officer for Liberty Public Schools, said officials are still inquiring about the tower.
“The District is continuing to gather information and conduct research on the cell tower located on campus, in addition to consulting with LPS legal counsel,” Anderson said. “We anticipate that an update on this work will be provided to the Warren Hills community this summer.”
The long-time teacher who won’t be returning to Warren Hills said that “in my gut” she believes something at the school or around it is making people sick.
“I just don’t think that they (district leaders) are seeing it,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s in the soil. I don’t know if it’s the cell tower.
“I don’t know what it is, but I honestly do feel like it’s something within our building, or in the grounds that we’re sitting on.”
From early in the 2022-2023 school year to the end of this year, teachers have been urging district officials to provide more information, more investigation and answers to their questions, she said. And she and other teachers say they don’t feel like enough has been done.
“For 2 ½ years, we’ve just asked them to prove it’s not our building, to dig deeper,” she said. “We don’t need to be the ones spearheading this, it should be the district hearing our concerns and investigating what we’ve brought to their attention.
“That’s all we’ve asked is, ‘Just please listen to us and do what we’re asking you to do.’ And that’s what we feel like has not been done. … I feel like we’ve fallen on deaf ears.”
‘Fight the fight’
On May 28, the last day of school, Warren Hills principal Michelle Swierski sent an email to families, with the subject line, “Happy Summer Break.” Without specifically mentioning the fear over the cancer diagnoses, she did address the struggles in recent months.
“This school year has certainly had its challenges, particularly as we’ve continued our focused work on keeping our learning environment safe and healthy,” Swierski wrote. “I want to assure you that the district remains committed to taking all necessary proactive steps to support student and staff well-being. Your partnership in this work has been invaluable.”
In the summer months, she said, “our team will be committed to sharing with our Warren Hills community any relevant updates related to the ongoing proactive work to ensure our school has healthy learning environments.”
She encouraged parents to continue to look at information posted on the Warren Hills website.
Later this month, on June 25, the Missouri Cancer Inquiry Committee will meet to formally review data provided to the members from Clay County health officials to determine if there is a cancer cluster at the Liberty school. The goal is to determine next steps.
Parents and teachers say they’d still like to have a thorough investigation and full epidemiology study done at the school to ensure that the campus is safe. Those transferring their children from the school and teachers who are leaving say they will continue to help draw attention and get support for Warren Hills.
“I can still fight the fight, and I will continue to do that,” said the long-time teacher who is leaving. “But just being there, day in and day out, and just knowing that we really haven’t had the support that we’ve asked for, that’s what’s been so much for me this year.
“I know that cancer is out there, and I know that anybody can get it at any time in their life, but it’s just to me, the amount of people (diagnosed) that are associated with our building is alarming.”
Servatius agrees. She said she hopes the district will exhaust all testing and measures it can take.
“There’s a lot of things in this world that we find out after years and years of using or being around things that come to find out it was very harmful for us,” Servatius said. “Is this going to be one of those things? I don’t know the answer.
“But you know, this many cancer cases in one school, do we need to be paying attention? I hope for my kids’ sake that there’s nothing. I just need that proven.”
