Citing campaign tenor, schools cancel class for Election Day

Citing worries about the sharp rhetoric of the presidential campaign and other safety concerns, school districts across the country that host polling sites are opting to cancel classes on Election Day.

With ample parking and gymnasiums and cafeterias that provide the necessary space for voting booths, communities have long relied on schools to host polling stations.

But this year’s polarizing general election, as well as school security concerns that grew following the 2012 mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., has some school and law enforcement officials rethinking whether it’s prudent to have kids in school on Election Day.

In Lorain, Ohio, the school board voted in August to cancel classes on the day of the general election. Erin Gadd, a district spokeswoman, noted that “emotions are running high during this presidential election” and that the tenor of the campaign “did inform the decision.”

“There’s going to be a lot of people coming in and out of the buildings throughout the day as they show up to vote,” Lorain schools Superintendent Jeff Graham added. “We want to ensure a smooth experience for everyone concerned. We felt it would be best for our students and community.”

Lorain joins districts in Illinois, Maine, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina and Wisconsin that are opting to keep kids out of class on Nov. 8 out of concerns for student safety on a day when large voter turnout is expected. A USA TODAY/ Suffolk University poll published Wednesday finds that voters are increasingly nervous about the prospect of Election Day violence.

Most school districts that have decided to cancel class said they worried about increased vehicular traffic around schools and having less ability to control who enters a school on an Election Day.

But officials in several communities around the countrysay that the tenor of this campaign also weighed in their decision.

In Montclair, N. J., the school board voted this month to close schools on Nov. 8 after the district’s superintendent was inundated with phone calls and emails from parents concerned about the possibility of tensions.

In Falmouth, Maine, local officials decided several months ago to reserve Nov. 8 for a teacher workshop day.

Falmouth Police Chief Edward Tolan said that town leaders also looked at stationing police officers inside the school, but thought that it could be “detrimental to people voting their feelings.”

Tolan suggested the contentious nature of this year’s campaign has reinforced that officials in this seaside town of 12,000 made the right decision.