Four Schools To Be Open On Election Day

Students at , Sol Feinstone, Rolling Hills and Hillcrest elementary schools will now have a half-day of school on Election Day -- Tuesday, Nov. 8.

The original calendar called for all Council Rock schools to be closed on Election Day. Some schools are polling places and for the purposes of safety and ease of voter parking, students typically have the day off on Election Day, Superintendent Mark Klein explained at the Council Rock School Board meeting Thursday.

But power outages after Hurricane Irene caused the opening of school to be delayed by an additional day at those four elementary schools. And officials say opening school on Election Day for those students only is the best solution.

Klein said school officials will ensure the polling area is shut off from the rest of the school. A half-day is scheduled so students at the schools that are polling places won’t need to utilize the cafeteria, where voting is conducted, for lunch.

The school board supported the change to the calendar and unanimously voted to approve it.

Klein warned that a snowy winter could mean more scheduling problems for the district. Because of flooding and rain, Council Rock has already used two of the five days built into the schedule for weather-related closures. 

If the area experiences a harsh winter and more than three snow days are used, “we may have to capture those back over spring break,” Klein said.