Staten Island's Community Education Council has joined the list of advocates calling for the city to close schools to students on Primary Day.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Staten Island's Community Education Council has joined the list of advocates calling for the city to close schools to students on Primary Day.
CEC 31 president Michael Reilly said he believes that having a school building open to the public during any election poses a considerable safety threat to students.
"We're giving open access to anyone from the community to enter our school buildings. That goes against what the DOE is trying to accomplish," said Reilly, referring to Mayor Bill de Blasio's recently signed "Avonte's Law," which would require additional safety measures in city schools. The law, named for autistic teen Avonte Oquendo, who disappeared from his Queens school last October and was later found dead, would include enhanced door security and alarm systems.
Reilly pointed to an incident during this past September's primary election, in which police were called on an Upper West Side elementary school principal who tried to let her students eat lunch in a cafeteria where voting booths were placed.
In a DNAinfo report on the story, Community Board 7 Youth, Education and Libraries board co-chair Eric Shuffler said, "The Board of Elections has zero consideration for the welfare of the students...They're going to do what they're going to do and the school be damned."
The DOE was not immediately available for comment. The agency currently closes schools to students for general elections.
"Closing for primaries would be win-win for Board of Elections and DOE and students wouldn't be put in harms way," Reilly said.