Peabody School Committee members discussed potentially moving away from using school buildings as election day polling places at a recent meeting, after Welch Elementary School Principal Michelle Massa sent them a letter saying it is a safety and security concern, and that it can be disruptive to learning.

“While I understand the importance of providing accessible venues for democratic participation, I believe it is imperative to reconsider the practice of utilizing schools for this purpose,” Massa said in the letter. “As an alternative, I propose exploring the use of other municipal buildings in our city as polling locations.”

“The concerns about school security are so great,” School Committee Member Beverley Griffin Dunne said. “I always thought, it’s one day. We can turn over the gym and let the neighbors come in and vote. It actually is three days: the day before the election is set up, and the day after the election is (broken) down. For those three days, our students can’t use the gym, and it’s a required class.”

Griffin Dunne said that it’s secure inside the gym, but not outside.

“In my opinion, we need policemen outside the building to deal with the traffic concerns,” Griffin Dunne said. “We’ve got very specific traffic patterns, and some voters don’t know them, some of them don’t like to follow them, and they make their own. It’s really dangerous.” 

Griffin Dunne also talked about how drivers sometimes run over traffic cones placed outside schools. 

“When you think about it, a traffic cone is the same size as a kindergartener,” Griffin Dunne said. 

Griffin Dunne said that if these additional security measures cannot be implemented, she does not think schools should be open on election days. 

“There’s too much at stake,” Griffin Dunne said. “Times have changed.”

School Committee member Brandi Carpenter suggested slowly reducing the amount of polling done in schools, starting with one election per year.

“I’m not saying that the public is not welcome in our buildings. They are the taxpayers and they pay for them, and there are many events where they can come like plays, sporting events, craft fairs,” Carpenter said. “During the educational day, it doesn’t belong.”

Member Joseph Amico on the other hand acknowledged that a few “hiccups” do occur, and agrees that there needs to be more police presence in schools during election days, but is ultimately against the suggestion to move polling places to other municipal buildings.

“Sometimes it’s easy to say ‘let’s move something,’” Amico said. “But at the end of the day, we have to remember who makes these buildings possible, and it’s our senior citizens, it’s our taxpayers, it’s people on fixed incomes who take the hit. We get these beautiful buildings, they’re asking to use them one day a year for a vote. Maybe two if there’s a primary.”

Member Jarrod Hochman said that he never sees himself supporting banning elections in schools.

“What’s the alternative?” Hochman said. “What other buildings are big enough? We’ve already had issues with polling locations and not having adequate parking and space. I know there’s an impact on students, but I think that the impact is outweighed by the constitutional rights of the citizens and taxpayers that pay for these buildings.”

Mayor Ted Bettencourt said that he hopes that the committee can agree to keep voting in schools.

“It is very difficult to find other buildings that have the accessibility and parking to allow these types of votes,” Bettencourt said.