Schools as polling places in sharp decline across Vermont
Watching adults vote can educate children, but fewer Vermont students may be getting the opportunity to see democracy in action this November.
Since 2016, the number of Vermont schools serving as polling places has decreased by more than half. That’s according to a comparison of polling places by Community News Service based on data from the Vermont Secretary of State’s office.
This Election Day, 41 schools will serve as polling places, down from 102 schools eight years ago.
It’s not entirely clear what’s behind the trend. Sue Ceglowski, executive director of the Vermont School Boards Association, said neither her group nor the Vermont Superintendents Association had any data on the topic.
Voters cast their ballots at Brookside Primary School in Waterbury on Election Day.
With many Vermonters now voting by mail, it’s possible to hold elections in smaller buildings, like town offices.
“There have been a number of new municipal offices that have been built,” said Diane Judd, president of the Vermont Municipal Clerks’ and Treasurers’ Association. “They may have been built to accommodate voting purposes.”
Another reason may be school safety. That’s what caused a struggle over where to vote within one Vermont community this fall.
In the past, students at Brookside Primary School in Waterbury attended class while general election voting took place in the gym.
Now, because of school shootings across the country, Brookside Primary’s entire school district is closing on Election Day, as well as the day before.
“Prior to 1999, we had fire drills. That was it,” said Michael Leichliter, superintendent of Harwood Unified Union School District.
He said the 1999 Columbine massacre kicked off a new era of school shootings and increased focus on safety.
“Schools are a very different place because of the unrest we’re seeing across our country,” he said.
Historically, Brookside has been used as the polling place in Waterbury for Town Meeting Day, primaries and general elections. Schools in Vermont are already closed on Town Meeting Day, so those gatherings have never posed an issue for student safety.
But over the last several years, school officials have increased school security. At Brookside Primary, the front doors were locked during the school day and visitors had to ring a buzzer to get inside.
On Election Day in 2022, voting happened while school was in session. Parents and others raised concerns. They worried about the increase in tensions around elections, combined with increased gun violence in schools.
In the run-up to this election, Leichliter met with Waterbury town clerk Karen Petrovic, as well as the school board chair, to talk through addressing parents’ fears. They discussed several options, including closing off part of the school or moving the polling place altogether.
Petrovic argued for keeping elections at Brookside Primary because it’s the only place in town big enough. And she prevailed.
“With almost 4,500 voters on my checklist, I have very limited resources as far as where I can hold an election,” Petrovic said. “I always have to prepare for 4,500 people showing up.”
Petrovic was a student at Brookside Primary in the 1980s when it was still Waterbury Elementary. She remembers sitting in the gym to watch people vote. It left a strong impression on her.
She understands the need to close schools. She’s just sad about it.
“The downside of this all is it doesn’t provide grade school students the opportunity to see how civil democracy works,” she said.
“They don’t see it set up. They don’t see it torn down. They don’t see it in youth,” Petrovic said.
That’s increasingly true across Vermont. Only 16 percent of polling places are in schools this year, down from 39 percent eight years ago, according to state records. Many of those remaining schools are closed for Election Day — like Brookside Primary.
“But there’s other ways we can communicate that message nowadays,” Petrovic said. “We’ve got to take care of the students’ safety first.”
(Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, on assignment for the Waterbury Roundabout.)