Peabody poll locations to remain at schools

PEABODY – After much discussion and debate, Peabody polling places will stay put, as School Committee members voted to accept the recommendation by City Clerk Tim Spanos.Spanos wrote a detailed letter to the committee, explaining various reasons why it would be better to, at this point in time, keep the locations as they are.”By law, the City Clerk must notify by mail every voter of their polling place change and the initial cost would be approximately $3,000 in postage and $1,000 in printing costs,” he wrote in the letter. “Lastly, there would be a budget increase of $1,200 for building rentals and $360 for custodial costs.”Spanos said that given the tight economic times, “It is not wise at this point and time to place an unnecessary burden on our taxpayers.”The discussion was first sparked by School Committee member Brandi Carpenter, who last year suggested removing polls from the city’s schools as a safety precaution. Carpenter’s concern came in light of the Randolph tragedy involving an 86-year-old man who struck and seriously injured a young girl with his car while on his way to vote in the Presidential Primary.Carpenter reflected on her past experiences voting in Peabody and didn’t like what she remembered: cars parked in fire lanes, people driving against the normal traffic pattern of the school, and strangers coming and going without the need to sign in.For the first time ever, schools were closed for half of the day during the past fall state elections and closed completely during the presidential elections. Both decisions proved to be for the best, as voter turnout was higher than ever before.”We feel that scheduling of teacher Staff Development Day to coincide with Election Day?provided a perfect solution and effective compromise between school safety for our children and voting ability for our citizens,” Spanos said. “Elections in our schools are a great learning tool for our children.”