Election-day crowds not enough to close schools
|
The board was asked last month to close county schools on election day by Election Administrator Donna Yates, who stated she believes doing so would in the best interest of both students and voters.
The safety of students whose schools serve as voting precincts, she said, was her office’s biggest priority. The increased traffic from voters at the beginning of the school day could be dangerous to students, she said. She added many people are in and out of the schools all day on election day, any one of which could potentially pose a threat to students.
While the suggestion has been made before, Yates said she felt it was especially important to do so this year as a larger-than-usual turnout is expected. Reasons for this are the people will elect a governor, U.S. senator and U.S. representative – all races with no incumbents. There will also be a state lottery referendum and an expected local liquor-by-the-drink referendum.
As next school year’s calendar had already been approved by the School Board and the Warren County Education Association, the School Board opted to let the Education Association, which proposes calendars, take the issue under advisement and report back this month.
WCEA co-president Nancy McNeal put the measure to a vote, asking teachers if they would be willing to close school on election day in exchange for making it up by adding an additional day to the end of the school year. Results of that vote were 190 against and 184 in favor.
“We really can’t make a recommendation one way or the other,” said McNeal. “The results were so close.”
Director of Schools Dr. Jerry Hale said he asked county principals whether they thought having voters at their schools was a problem and was told it was not.
In fact, Jane Allison, principal of Eastside Elementary, which serves as the only precinct in the populous 7th District, said Friday she thought having students at her school on election day was a “wonderful” idea.
“I think it’s great that students can see democracy in action and see how important voting is,” she said. “It’s a wonderful teaching tool.”
The only problem at her school in year’s past has been parking and traffic, which she said should be taken care of when the school’s new building is completed next month. As for safety, Allison said she has never felt students were in danger during election days.