Students aren’t in classes tomorrow, and Michelle Baumstark, community relations director for CPS, said this is for security reasons.
“Voter turnouts for national elections are much larger than with local or state elections,” Baumstark said. “Our first obligation is to maintain a safe learning environment for our students. With a larger number of individuals coming in and out of school buildings and more of our schools being used as polling locations to accommodate larger turnouts, it is prudent to not have school in session.”
According to National School Safety and Security Services, security issues in a “post-Columbine and post-9/11” America have drawn the attention of many school administrators. Senior Chay Vazquez said CPS’s reasoning is a good idea, noting the safety of students in public schools has been a growing concern.
“I think the schools are more aware of student safety and how many strangers walk up into school when they’re voting,” Vazquez said. “Also, all the teachers have to go vote, so you might as well skip school. Most people won’t show up anyways.”
Schools in general are always a place to house elections because they’re public and have plenty of parking room and handicap accessible spots; however. Still, Baumstark said it’s best to try to limit schools as polling places for the future regarding safety.
“We work with the county clerk to try to limit the usage of school buildings as polling locations for elections when possible, as it does create additional safety and security procedures for us,” Baumstark said.
Assistant principal Dr. Tim Baker, who is in charge of safety-related issues at RBHS, such as tornado and fire drills, said the day off is a good move on the part of CPS.
“A lot of schools are made as polling places for the presidential election. It would be just because of the heavy traffic flow. I believe the answer is because it would be safer,” Dr. Baker said. “It’s just safer for everybody because presidential elections by far usually have the biggest voter turnout. It’s just problematic to have school on those days.”
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District cancels school because of elections, student safety at risk
November 7, 2016
Feature photo of sample ballot by Eléa Gilles
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Logan Dorsey • Nov 10, 2016 at 12:10 pm
Safety should be a number one concern for schools, also it’s beneficiary for both parties . You get to use the school for a location for voting while keeping the students, teachers and staff safe. Nice to have the day off.
Lisa Zhuang • Nov 9, 2016 at 9:36 pm
I never quite thought about how school in session would affect voting teachers. I think it’s a good idea that school is out of session, so that teachers can get out and vote easily, as well as some students.
Peyton Moore • Nov 9, 2016 at 10:13 am
I think shutting down schools for security reasons is very safe. It limits the chance of people interfering with students and possibly cause harm towards students.
Alexis Walker • Nov 8, 2016 at 11:20 pm
I agree with not having school on election days. If there are students at the schools, voters may not want to go vote because they would have to deal with navigating around all of the students. If they don’t go in and vote, they are not doing their duty for the country and they are not voicing their opinion. Also, everyone enjoys an extra day off too.
Jadyn Lisenby • Nov 8, 2016 at 6:48 pm
I also agree that it is safer to not have school on election day. Schools are a great location for people to vote at but it could disrupt classes. Also, staff and some older students are eligible to vote so having school may cause them to miss their time to vote by the time school ends and they can leave.
Kayla West • Nov 8, 2016 at 5:15 pm
I agree, having children in school while members of the community are going in and out of our schools would pose a large safety concern as there would be many unknown people throughout the building. Vazquez makes a good point, teachers and many seniors are going to be voting on this day, so attendance would be lower therefore making it a day off more logical. Thank you for sharing and I look forward to reading more of your writing.