The Andover Elementary/Middle School community looks forward to any opportunities that bring townspeople into our school. We love to show off our bulletin boards filled with amazing art work and to interact with and learn from our multi-talented community members on SHARE Day. We are overjoyed to see the number of parents and grandparents who share our special meal days (Grandparent Thanksgiving and Parent Breakfast) and many other events throughout the year.

We also welcome the busy buzz that accompanies Town Meeting day with a gym full of community members. We look forward to having our students see what being part of a flourishing community is all about. We love receiving compliments at the end of the day from the moderator and others who have spent the day in the gym and are impressed with the well-mannered students. We’ve even adjusted our lunch menu in the past because we knew one poll worker always looked forward to our macaroni and cheese.

However, opening up the building for voting presents problems for us in keeping our school safe. If you visit AE/MS on a regular school day, the only entrance that is open is the main door by the office. Visitors are greeted by Mrs. Parenteau, Ms. Turk, or Ms. Slayton. Business is taken care of at the office window, or if there is a reason to come into the building, the visitor is let in through the locked door.  We know who is in our school building at all times and access is controlled.

This process is in place for security reasons. We are charged with keeping our students and staff members safe. We want our parents to be assured every day that we are doing everything within our control to maintain a safe building for their children.

When the community is in the building for voting, we have the main lobby doors wide open, and people come and go all day. Many of the voters who come into the building  are familiar to us; but many are not.

We totally understand and acknowledge that the schools are, in many ways, a perfect polling place because of accessibility, parking, and the large size of the space available. We also view the school building as a community building and are not looking to shut people out.

However, we are trying to come up with a solution that works for everybody. We have called area schools that have voting during the school day and have found that in most cases, there are separate entrances preventing the general public and the students from sharing the same spaces.

At AE/MS it is impossible to close different sections of our building. Students have their lunch on the stage overlooking the gym. Bathrooms are shared. Students and community members pass each other in the lobby.

The conversation has started between Police Chief Glenn Laramie, the Andover School Board, AE/MS administration, the Andover Selectmen, and Town administration. We want to come up with a solution that works for everybody, because we realize that AE/MS is a familiar and convenient place for voters.

You will notice a very quiet building during voting on Town Meeting Day on Tuesday, March 8. The students will not be in school that day. It has been scheduled as a Teacher Workshop Day. Students will not be present, and teachers will use the day for professional training. This is sad, but it is one solution.

However, because we couldn’t plan ahead for the New Hampshire Primary on Tuesday, February 9, our students will be in school that day. As principal, I am confident that Chief Laramie and I will have a plan for the day.

I know that Andover is not the only town wrestling with this moral dilemma. Many towns and cities are having the same discussion, including nearby Franklin.

We grieve the loss of innocence in our modern society at large, and we regret that the heart of our community can no longer easily accommodate and be home to an act that is the heart of our democracy. While town voting will most likely not continue at AE/MS while school is in session, it is with a heavy heart that we will lose even one chance to interact with the community we love.

We look forward to partnering with the community and will play a part in any solution and communication effort needed to help solve the problem.