School Safety on Election Day

vote

The 2016 election is coming up in just two weeks, and many of your facilities will be used as polling places. Have you considered how you will secure them? While I can’t help get your preferred candidate into office, I can help with a few safety suggestions. Here are some things to consider:

Will workers, volunteers, and voters be restricted to accessing only certain areas of the building, unoccupied by students?

Are restrooms available near the polling area to keep visitors from requesting access to other parts of the building?

Will you or your local government provide additional security on election day?

What types of background checks will election workers and volunteers complete?

Will voters have a designated parking area, separate from parent, staff and student parking and away from student drop-off and pick-up?

Do your surveillance cameras cover the area to be used for polling? Will someone monitor them regularly?

If your school will be in session on election day, and it is a designated polling place, planning ahead will alleviate a lot of potential headaches on November 8.

Survey Update:

You may recall that I recently requested input from readers about safety challenges and needs. My objective was to learn about the areas of safety that concern you most, so I can focus future articles on them.

I regret to say that I received too few responses to provide any meaningful direction. So, moving forward, please feel free to contact me at any time with requests for posts on specific school safety topics. If you are wondering about the best way to handle something, chances are good that someone else is, too.