Polling Day - School Closure

[user1495955132]

Just trying to canvas opinion as they're very mixed amongst my circle of friends & family. DD's (year 3/primary) school is being used as a polling station and for the first time since we've been attending the school it's being kept open for the day. They will only be using the dinner hall and the two sets of internal doors which lead into the school will be kept locked. All children bring or are supplied with a packed lunch, and all classrooms lead straight into the playground, so no reason for them to be in the corridors or anywhere near the dinner hall. All necessary safeguarding measures in place. However, it just doesn't sit right with me. Not sure whether it's in light of recent events and all the political unrest at the moment, but if anything was going to happen at the school, surely polling day, and giving the general public (and random nutters) access to the school, would create the perfect opportunity. I'm a SAHM so it doesn't make any difference to me, and I appreciate that for working parents taking days off for school closures is a pita, but dates like polling day are worked out well in advance so I don't see why the school can't work these around inset days. It's a smallish village school (approx 360 children) but we are close to an international airport and recently had an incident with a gunman on the loose 2 roads away from the school - cue police helicopters, school lockdown etc. Turned out to be the local nutter with an air rifle who was off his face on drugs, but still ..... We have all been informed that keeping children home for the day would not be looked upon favourably, and as one helpful teacher pointed out, if somebody got it into their heads, it would be easy to stand behind the fence and spray the playground with bullets on any day of the week, so why should polling day pose any more of a risk than any other . So, my AIBU is, should I stick with my gut instinct that it's just not worth the risk? There's at least another 3 mums that I know of in DDs class that feel the same, one of the school governors is not happy about it and a friends mum who works for Ofsted also thinks it's an unnecessary risk, so I'm kind of thinking it's not just me being an overprotective parent, iyswim.

They will only uses church halls as a last resort. Same with public houses. Because some people will not enter a church not of their faith, or a pub, and it therefore has a negative impact on voter turn out.

BackforGood There will be a reason the buildings aren't used. Are they all council buildings you are thinking of? There will be a reason they aren't chosen.

Saturdays aren't used because of voter turn out.

The school can't just suddenly add a training day - there are a set number in a school year. So they could only close on Election Day if they opened on one of the already-arranged inset days, if there were still any to come, thus pissing off many parents who have already made arrangements for that day.

Round here there was a fuss a few years back because a local church hall was being used and a Muslim group objected about having to go in past "religious symbols".
The church part is actually separated from the hall quite considerably and the noticeboards they have up are mostly community events.
They now use a school instead.

They do actually use my own Church on most polling days - not the worship area, one of the meeting rooms.
People of faith never object to going into other faiths' buildings - this is usually someone who knows nothing about it who thinks they ought to be professionally offended on someone else's part.
The rooms I am thinking of lalala are a mix of different owners - not all council, but including council - the library being a good example.

"but I live in a big city and, can think of 1/2 a dozen places within a couple of hundred yards of the schools they are closing, that meet all those criteria"

And I live in a rural area. Most of the churches don't have a hall, and there are no other buildings that meet the criteria.

That's interesting lalalalyra.

Why don't people believe that other options aren't always available?

If they don't usually open as a school when used as a polling station then I would be asking what has changed - why they weren't used before, why theyare being used now and the associated risk assessments for both...

But there would also be a healthy dose of curiosity nosiness involved!!

It isn't not believing, Iamastonished - I quite clearly stated that I obviously don't know the OP's area - but I said it is ridiculous where there are other options , not to use them.

witchend It was the same here after there was a fire in a school. The two options were a church or a mosque. In the end a part of the secondary school was used instead until the primary school was repaired.

In that case I agree, however, I'm sure they will have looked at them and discounted them for various reasons.

I still fail to understand why, if the polling area can be closed off from the rest of the school, it has to close for polling day.

The rooms I am thinking of lalala are a mix of different owners - not all council, but including council - the library being a good example.

They are unlikely to use a non council building unless they really have too for cost reasons.

Depends on your library layout, but I don't know any libraries locally here that would be suitable. There needs to be facilities for the polling staff - a break out room, somewhere they can make tea and coffee and heat food. Also if there's any chance that the library is on the closure list in the next few years they won't touch it either.

It can be a random reason as well. Like there is one school here that is never used. Parents at the other school crack up. But the always open school's kitchens are also used to prepare meals on wheels meals so it can't be used.

I still fail to understand why, if the polling area can be closed off from the rest of the school, it has to close for polling day.

It can only be kept open if the entire space they need is able to be locked off, and locked off secure enough.

If the polling station staff can't access toilets, for example, within the locked area then the rest of the building can't be open.

I hated that job lol. Checking bus routes was my bit. It was the most boring thing I've ever done in my life.

That makes sense lala

Our school is similar size and they have never closed on polling day. They use the hall which has access straight from the reception area and has its own fire exit. They lock the two doors at the back that lead to classrooms and station the tables with ballot boxes in front of them. The classrooms have alternative fire exits the other sides of the locked doors. In an emergency the hall fire exits would only ever be used by anyone in the hall. There are also gates leading to the outside areas which are always kept locked during the day anyway. Hall fire exit comes out outside of these gates so that you can't burst out of the fire exit and end up in the yard.

Realistically the risk of someone getting into classrooms is very slim and is fairly comparable to a normal day. On a normal day the door to the hall is locked with a keypad but the doors leading off the hall would be unlocked. They just replace one locked door with a different one plus there are constantly people in the hall who could raise an alarm who wouldn't be there normally.

It's never bothered me at all. Every election hundreds of schools stay open with no issues.

what happens at drop off and pick up, it's not like they'll shut the polling station while kids are coming and going. I hope the school won't let children (even yr6) leave alone that day with all the randoms hanging about!

All schools are open yards at drop off and pick up. Anyone could walk into any yard any day. Only the tiniest of schools would know everyone who ever picks any child up. Polling day is probably one of the safest days as they usually have extra vigilance and staff manning exits they may not normally. Every school has their own systems for ensuring kids safety at drop off and pick up and they don't suddenly become flawed and dangerous because there may be half a dozen extra people nearby wanting to vote.

In my experience the People who vote around those times are the ones doing the drop offs or pick ups. Most sensible local residents won't go near the place at that time.

I hope the school won't let children (even yr6) leave alone that day with all the randoms hanging about!

What like the 'randoms' that might be outside the school anyway or on their way home you mean?

OP I think YABU. This is a snap election, no one has had extra time to prepare (except perhaps Teresa May!)

There can be random people hanging around outside a school any day of the week. If the voters are sufficiently separated from the school I see no valid reason to disrupt the education of hundreds of children in your school, and thousands of children across the country. As well as the parents faced with short notice childcare arrangements to be made.

Lalala I worked at the last election, there were no facilities to heat food, no kettle (we were advised to bring flasks) and the fridge was padlocked! But yes we could access a loo thankfully.

That's interesting Lala, as the polling station staff would need to go through the double doors from the dinner hall (at our school) to be able to use the toilets, and would therefore be in the part of the corridor which leads to the classrooms. .

Ok, I see now that it's just not a case of simply arranging training days to coincide with polling day, which is fair enough and I hadn't really thought that through properly, but out of interest what would have happened historically? I've never known a school to stay open when it was used as a polling station. Is this just a new thing? When I was at school it was always a bonus day off! Did the schools need to just write this day off and make up for the hours lost somewhere else? .

This election is a nightmare for local authorities to organise. In my city there are 10 constituencies, each with 4 wards, each with 9-13 polling districts, that's over 400 venues to book with very short notice as well as counting venues as the ones we use are booked, staff for each polling station, counters and verifiers for 10 counts...

It is sensible to use schools as the costs would be hideous if they all had to be in hired venues. Even better would be actual fixed elections to allow planning to keep costs down. Even better would be online voting - if we can pay our tax and bank online I fail to see how a secure voting system can't be set up, with postal votes for those who prefer.

I think the pure number of recent elections, general, local, mayoral, referendum, police and crime commissioners mean that some schools are worried about losing so many days, when they're u dear so much pressure to perform

"That's interesting Lala, as the polling station staff would need to go through the double doors from the dinner hall (at our school) to be able to use the toilets, and would therefore be in the part of the corridor which leads to the classrooms"

So are you suggesting that the polling staff have to be CRB checked then?

DBS checked I mean.

My father, who was a teacher and also very active in local politics, told me that it was a mark of the contempt in which all the political parties - including his - held education that we used schools as polling stations. And he was right.

I'm in my thirties and remember my school being used as a polling station and open that day. The part of the playground between the gate and the door was just sectioned off with a bit of rope!