Polls open at like 6am and stay open until like 8pm. Anyone who works can find time to vote during those hours.

Closing schools just make it MORE difficult for people to vote, because now they have the kids to handle.

But hey, since when did FCPS need a legitimate excuse to close schools?

Or we could vote on a Saturday and no need for a bogus holiday.

Are the kids voting? If not, they should be in school. It's a Tuesday.

(And we have lived in plentty of places where kids go to school at the same time as people vote at the school. It's not an issue.)

Anonymous wrote:Election Day is a holiday in Virginia. That is why schools and SACC are closed.

They are closed because many of the public schools are used as polling locations. It is a huge safety risk - and against the current safety protocol - to have a never ending stream of strangers entering the schools to queue up to vote. If the schools tried to stay open, I'd keep my kid home. No way they could ever manage the crowds coupled with the kids. Plus, at our HS, the cafeteria is the polling locale. Should the kids not eat on those days?

Election Day is a holiday in Virginia. That is why schools and SACC are closed.

Anonymous wrote:Schools close on Election Day for safety since schools are polling places. It's not to make it easier for people to vote, we don't do that here.

But only in the last few years was it a holiday for us teachers too. It was always a teacher work day and I always went to school for my own kid’s conferences.

It made sense in the past when election day aligned with the end of a quarter that it was a teacher work day. So kids not in buildings used as polling places and it allowed for SACC to open. I'm trying to work today with my kids home because no SACC. However, we have SACC on Friday because that is a teacher workday when it is a federal holiday so many parents will be off, but not me since my company has us work that day. My kids will probably complain about SACC because I suspect few will be there. Would have made more sense to have Today the teacher work day and take Friday as a holiday. My second grader had seven kids and the teacher out yesterday. I suspect lots of folks bailing on school this week. Calendar is just bad this year. It has been hard on SACC to staff.

If you recall, in previous years, the first quarter ended the week before election day and election day was part of a four day weekend for students. There was never school on the November election day. Now that school starts earlier, the quarter ended earlier and it wasn't possible to work election day in as a end of the quarter teacher work day.

personally I don't want random strangers wandering around my kids school. I am glad they are closed today but Election Day on a Tuesday is stupid. It was created for the rich since they had nothing else to do and this country only wants those people voting. it is ashamed it has not been updated but at least early voting is easier now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools close on Election Day for safety since schools are polling places. It's not to make it easier for people to vote, we don't do that here.

+1 that’s the only reason. When I was a kid we had classes on Election Day (not in this area) even though my school was a polling place. But can you imagine the outcry if a school stayed open today with many hundreds of members of the general public in the building for voting???

In this area, they don't always close schools for Election Day, not for off years. With so much early voting, they maybe didn't need to, this year. But it's all been so strange the last couple years, and this year is going to have a high turnout. I'm not going to criticize, I think it was the right call.

Anonymous wrote:Schools close on Election Day for safety since schools are polling places. It's not to make it easier for people to vote, we don't do that here.

+1 that’s the only reason. When I was a kid we had classes on Election Day (not in this area) even though my school was a polling place. But can you imagine the outcry if a school stayed open today with many hundreds of members of the general public in the building for voting???

Schools close on Election Day for safety since schools are polling places. It's not to make it easier for people to vote, we don't do that here.

Anonymous wrote:Our office is open. There used to be SACC on Election Day. Now this is a struggle for the single, working parent.

Me! I'm a single, working parent and our care is closed. If school or care was open I could go vote easily.

Our office is open. There used to be SACC on Election Day. Now this is a struggle for the single, working parent.

I'm so glad that today schools are closed for Election Day. I wish it was a Federal holiday so that more people would have the opportunity to exercise their freedom to vote (and yes I know there are people who still work on Federal holidays. But I think we need more accessibility and focus on participating in what is left of our democracy).