You know the schools wouldn’t have to close for voting if people just voted by mail. That’s one way to get back some school closures.

The issue is not that they use and close schools for election day.

The issue is that this election never should have happened. It should have been blocked by the Virginia Supreme Court for violating Virginia constitutional procedures

Saturday voting is the right answer.

Rec. centers, community centers, churches (my assigned voting location is a church), and libraries can all be used. Or just wait until election day. I also think closing the schools for an extra election for one item inks uncalled for. Change the location or wait until November.

just another reason to not have the kids in school or teachers working. Duh. This is a thing. They could use libraries, county buildings, nursing homes, larger post offices if they wanted to pretty much any other space but they pick another day to have the kids out of school and they're getting dumber every year. This is a choice they're making.

This is not a statewide closure. The person who shared that information was misinformed or just assumed.

Anonymous wrote:I'm downstate in Virginia and our schools are closed all day Tuesday, too. It's statewide.

Shhhh. You’ll disrupt the narrative that FCPS is making these decisions on purpose to upset everyone. They won’t be able to be wallow in their righteous indignation.

I'm downstate in Virginia and our schools are closed all day Tuesday, too. It's statewide.

Schools close because on Election Day because FCPS is basically a hemorrhoid on the ass of the donkey.

Anonymous wrote:So, about ten years ago, I showed up at my kids’ school to drop my kids off at SACC on voting day and saw a man (a poll-watcher, I guess) standing nearby with a weapon. I was new to this area/country, so I did not know that it was prohibited at schools (but permitted at most voting locations, albeit with restrictions). It was really unsettling. I fully support schools being closed on voting day.

Yeah, that would be illegal unless the person is a law enforcement officer. The only exception would be if someone had a concealed weapon in their vehicle while doing pick up/drop off. But that’s not what’s happening during voting.

The issue is that there are some nuts who don’t regularly visit a school campus and think they can carry their weapon wherever they like.

So, about ten years ago, I showed up at my kids’ school to drop my kids off at SACC on voting day and saw a man (a poll-watcher, I guess) standing nearby with a weapon. I was new to this area/country, so I did not know that it was prohibited at schools (but permitted at most voting locations, albeit with restrictions). It was really unsettling. I fully support schools being closed on voting day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools were closed on election day back when i was in elementary school. This isnt new. VA law requires polls to be open specific hours. And kids cant be in school while the building is used for voting. Duh.

Np. It is new to me. In my home state, the community centers and libraries are polling places. Apparently schools could be used (just looked it up), but they were not the majority of polling locations back then and are used even less often now.

Kids can be in school on election day, but not the way OP suggests, and not the way we currently do it here in VA.

Your hometown doesn't have a population of 1.1 million people. That's huge. Schools are plentiful here and make for an easy way to serve the voting population.

Firehouse dont have space, parking, risk of voters getting in the way of emergency vehicles. Libraries aren't as ubiquitous as you think.

New Jersey commonly uses firehouse for polling places. Same for NYC.

You make Fairfax sound lazy

Some places use churches too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t they use churches and libraries? It would be one thing if voting was once every 4 years or 2 years, but this is twice a year they close.

Interesting choice of Phoenix. Looks like that policy isn’t working for them.

https://www.azfamily.com/2025/03/07/arizona-senate-approves-bill-that-would-close-schools-election-day/

Most schools are not polling locations. That has been the case for decades, and the bill you noted was vetoed in May 2025. So saying it "isn't working for them" doesn't sound quite right. It also sounds, from the news article you posted, as though school refusal for polling locations has become a problem. That was reason quoted.

Most schools are not polling locations in Phoenix, and so the ones that are, likely are used for good reason. Finding a replacement location probably does create difficulties for the county. I would imagine the same may be true for Virginia. It may be possible to find alternatives in many locations, but in some areas, it may be more difficult to find an alternative.

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t they use churches and libraries? It would be one thing if voting was once every 4 years or 2 years, but this is twice a year they close.

Interesting choice of Phoenix. Looks like that policy isn’t working for them.

https://www.azfamily.com/2025/03/07/arizona-senate-approves-bill-that-would-close-schools-election-day/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools were closed on election day back when i was in elementary school. This isnt new. VA law requires polls to be open specific hours. And kids cant be in school while the building is used for voting. Duh.

Np. It is new to me. In my home state, the community centers and libraries are polling places. Apparently schools could be used (just looked it up), but they were not the majority of polling locations back then and are used even less often now.

Kids can be in school on election day, but not the way OP suggests, and not the way we currently do it here in VA.

Your hometown doesn't have a population of 1.1 million people. That's huge. Schools are plentiful here and make for an easy way to serve the voting population.

Firehouse dont have space, parking, risk of voters getting in the way of emergency vehicles. Libraries aren't as ubiquitous as you think.

New Jersey commonly uses firehouse for polling places. Same for NYC.

You make Fairfax sound lazy