The first day of school in Coupeville is Tuesday September 3rd. This is a special time for children and parents. It’s filled with emotion, excitement, and anxiety: new teachers, new schedules, classrooms, new friends and outdoor activities like our farm to school program. Many of us still have first day of school pictures in our photo albums. These are very special moments in time.
Add to this scene, the loudest jet flying all day long – right over the heads of Coupeville’s children on the FIRST day of school! And not just on the first day, but all week long!
Each jet doing a touch-and-go measures over 100 decibels – way over the maximum amount of noise children can be exposed to without concern for hearing loss and other health impacts.
- Tuesday, September 3: Late Morning to Early Afternoon then Night to Late Night
- Wednesday, September 4: Mid-Afternoon to Early Evening then Night to Late Night
- Thursday, September 5: Mid to Late Afternoon then Night to Late Night
- Friday, September 6: Late Morning to Early Afternoon
This is heartbreaking. And, we should all be outraged. Jets don’t belong over the heads of our children.
It’s our job, as a community and as parents, to protect our children. Their lives and future capabilities may be lessened because the Navy has decided to be deaf to reasonable complaints and suggestions, making our families collateral damage to their jet training. These rare and special moments, these ‘firsts’ will be spoiled in the memories of our children forever as they struggle for normalcy in a warfare training zone, where things are far from normal and they are at risk.
Enough is enough. The Navy has forgotten how to be a good neighbor. They must stop harming our children. Please join me in writing the president of the school board, Catherine Sears or Captain Arny at the base and ask them to stop the jets from harming our children. Send your email to: csears@coupeville.k12.wa.us, matthew.arny@navy.mil.
