Politics & Government

Westwood Officials Aim to Get Polls Out of Schools

Parents and officials are concerned about security. Moving the polls would also make them easier to access for some residents.

Polls could be moved out of Brookside School and, eventually, Westwood Regional Middle School if borough officials are successful in a bid to the county.

Borough clerk Karen Hughes said that she had previously requested the Bergen County Board of Elections approve a move of polls from Brookside Elementary School to the municipal building after the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., but the request was shot down because a change in polling place must be made for voter convenience, not school security.

Brookside parents recently circulated a petition requesting the change and presented it to borough officials during the council meeting Tuesday night. Brookside mom Jennifer Collard said they wanted to keep strangers away from their children.

Westwood Regional Schools used an extra snow day to close on the day of the primary election last spring and scheduled a staff development day for the general election this month.

Hughes said she was preparing to make the request to the county again, this time focusing on the fact that the ADA-compliant municipal building would be easier for seniors because of the long walk from parking to the school building.

"It's just too difficult for our seniors," Hughes said.

Borough officials also plan to request the county move the polling at Westwood Regional Middle School to the library, once the construction around Veterans Memorial Park is complete, Hughes said. That change is less of a priority, in terms of security, because voters enter the room where they vote without going through the rest of the school. The move would also make it easier for voters to reach the polls, according to Hughes.

Westwood Regional School officials reviewed their security across the district after the shooting in Newtown last year. School officials met with local police chiefs, reviewed security procedures with staff, have been locking all doors and using cameras at school entrances.


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