Missouri bill would close schools for elections

Mar 6, 2007 2:40 PM

A Republican lawmaker in Missouri wants to make public school districts cancel classes on election days to alleviate potential security risks.

Many schools serve as polling sites, which allows an unusually high number of visitors to enter the buildings, said sponsor Rep. Cynthia Davis.

Public schools "usually want guests to sign in at the office and wear a visitor's badge. On election days, they usually suspend this policy," Davis tells the Columbia (Mo.) Tribune. "I have had parents in my district approach me with concerns over the safety of their children."

The bill would allow schools to use election days for parent-teacher conferences, teacher workdays or student field trips.

At Columbia, Mo., schools that serve as polling places, administrators are extra cognizant of visitors on election days, says Lynn Barnett, assistant superintendent of student services.

"There is increased traffic on those days, and that's something we pay attention to," she says. "Certainly, administrators share with teachers to keep children away from the polling places and to be alert of people wandering the halls."

Barnett stopped short of saying she supports the legislative proposal, but she said administrators could structure the school calendar around election days if necessary. "We could be flexible," she adds. "We support anything that makes our schools safer places."

But taking election days off might be a problem for some districts, Missouri School Boards' Association spokesman Brent Ghan said. "That would be our main concern. It could require schools to extend the calendar even later in the year."

He said some educators see election days as good opportunities to teach children how voting works.

"There's an educational benefit for students to be exposed to the election process and seeing their school used as a polling place," Ghan says.

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