Due to significant anticipated voter turnout for Tuesday, November 8 presidential election, the Wellesley public schools will open with a two-hour delay on that day. Since many of the schools serve as voting places, administrators want to ensure that safe operations are maintained safe throughout the day.
The two-hour delay will allow the schools to avoid the combination of arriving students and the morning rush of voters at voting locations. It will also provide school staff with an opportunity to vote in their home communities before reporting to work.
Administrators have had some questions about how the delay will work and have released the following clarifications:
- All students will arrive 2 hours later than the regularly scheduled school start time.
- If your student takes the bus, pickup will be 2 hours later than the regular pick up time.
- Before school programs will not operate on that day.
- The following is the actual schedule for students on November 8th:
| School | Student Report Time |
| PAWS Preschool | 10:45 am |
| Bates | 10:30 am |
| Fiske | 10:30 am |
| Hardy | 10:30 am |
| Hunnewell | 10:30 am |
| Schofield | 10:30 am |
| Sprague | 10:30 am |
| Upham | 10:30 am |
| Middle School | 9:50 am (doors open 9:25am) |
| High School | 9:30 am (begin with Advisory) |
This seems unsafe to me, sending our children to school while strangers are roaming freely about the halls. Will there be police detail or other security to ensure the two groups stay separated (children v. voters)? Or a designated restroom just for voters to protect our children from predators? I certainly can’t be the only parent uncomfortable about this. Who is the person to contact about requesting preventive measures?
I can’t tell if the comment above is trolling or serious, but I’ll feed/bite anyway. You are aware the voting goes on in the schools all the time, and multiple times per year in many instances, right? For example, I have voted in the High School at least 3 times in the last year or so (Town Government referendum, regular election, Tolles-Parsons referendum).