More schools taking day off for election day

Fewer students are getting the up-close-and-personal lessons in American democracy they once were afforded.

Citing safety concerns and faster voting operations, a growing number of school districts are giving students Election Day off this year.

In most counties, 30 to 40 percent of the polling places are schools. That's because they are usually centrally located, easily accessible and have the space.

But what they often lack is a security detail to keep voters from wandering the school. Combine that with a massive increase in traffic that day and parents, school administrators and election officials can see a problem just waiting to happen.

"Our school officials were very receptive to our proposal because of how thorough we were with our research," said Robin Church, president of the Indian Prairie Unit District 204's parents council, which serves portions of Naperville, Aurora, Plainfield and Bolingbrook. "We know nothing has happened; that's why we call it a proactive school safety initiative."

District 204 is not only keeping students home Nov. 4, but it swapped some teacher in-service dates to keep kids home during the February primary as well.

"What we've done is committed to use nonattendance days on election days to avoid having kids in school then," said Mark Metzger, District 204 school board president. "If you're allowing the general public into the building, then we're worried about our kids."

The District 204 group's report has become the Magna Carta of Election Day school safety studies. Other parent groups in DuPage County have asked for its help and members have made presentations to the county's election commission about the benefits closing schools would have on voters. Some officials elsewhere also endorse the group's findings. They cite the dangers of self-directed parking at most schools for voters, shared entrances for voters and schoolchildren, and controlling access to the school.

"To me, that is such an ideal situation," Kane County Director of Elections Linda Mitchell said about closing schools on Election Day. "It would mean so much to getting our jobs done more easily."

It's not a new idea; it's just that the District 204 report pretty much covers every base. It received endorsements from state education and election groups. The group even did a safety audit of schools during a recent election that showed how easily voters can get into the school.

Its report also includes safety initiatives if boards determine schools must remain open. They suggest adding security personnel to keep voters out of restricted school space, requiring sign-in sheets, and training election judges in school safety procedures.

Neighboring Naperville Unit District 203 will remain open on Election Day because the teachers contract won't allow them to take the day off, said Melanie Raczkiewicz, the district's associate superintendent for operations. She would not provide great detail about the school's security protocols other than to say the issue has been discussed.

"We do have a person who stays in that polling area to keep an eye on things," she said. "Safety is our primary concern and we have never had a problem."

Fourteen school districts in DuPage will keep students home on Election Day this year. Election officials in other counties also are reporting more schools taking the day off this year.

"We've lost some schools who don't feel it's safe for us to use their space for voting," said Lake County Clerk Willard Helander. "We have statutory authority behind us, but we know if we're not wanted, the day is not going to go as well."

Attempts to legislate the issue have all met the same fate. Three bills designed to keep kids home on Election Day were essentially killed in committee last year in Springfield.

"We caught a lot of problems with the bill," said state Rep. JoAnn Osmond, an Antioch Republican. "Everybody had an excuse not to do it, and it got to be more controversial than it was worth."

Osmond's bill simply required schools to keep students home on Election Day. Chicago Democratic state Rep. Connie Howard's bill would have made the day a state holiday and given just about everyone the day off.

"I just thought it might encourage everyone to come out and vote if they didn't have anything else to do that day," she said. "But we heard about it from everyone who was complaining their businesses would suffer if they had the day off."

Another bill would have required teacher institute days be scheduled on election and primary dates before any other day, but it never made it out of committee, either.

One law that did get passed bans registered sex offenders from voting at schools. But everyone admits there's no one at the polling places making sure that law is obeyed.

"I don't think any of these bills made much of a difference to us," said Jean Donovan, the past president of the District 204 parents council. "We came in with everything we had and all these people to say this was the right decision and our board listened."

No school

These school districts are among those not holding classes on Election Day in November:

DuPage County

Queen Bee School District 16, Glendale Heights

Keeneyville School District 20, Hanover Park

West Chicago Elementary School District 33

Glen Ellyn School District 41

Lombard Elementary School District 44

Downers Grove Grade School District 58

Maercker District 60, Clarendon Hills

Darien Public Schools District 61

Gower School District 62, Willowbrook

Center Cass School District 66, Downers Grove

Woodridge School District 68

Glen Ellyn Elementary District 89

Indian Prairie Unit District 204

Elmhurst Unit District 205

Lake County

Beach Park School District 3

Emmons School District 33, Antioch

Waukegan Public School District 60

Kildeer Countryside School District 96, Buffalo Grove

North Shore School District 112, Highland Park

Round Lake Area School District 116

Kane County

East Aurora District 131

Cook County

Palatine Township Elementary District 15

Wheeling Township Elementary District 21

Prospect Heights School District 23

Arlington Heights School District 25

River Trails School District 26

Schaumburg Community Consolidated District 54

Mount Prospect School District 57

Des Plaines Community Consolidated District 62

East Maine School District 63