An advocacy organization is asking county leaders to consider ending the use of schools as polling places.
In an Oct. 29 letter to County Board members, Arlington Parents for Education (APE) said finding alternative sites would allow students to go to school on election days. Current School Board policy is generally to hold a teacher workday or close its facilities, including those not being used as polling places, for elections.
For APE, shifting polling places away from schools would be a win-win.
“The right to vote is incredibly important — we can and should ensure our community’s access to polling sites while still providing our students with access to education,” its letter said.
Currently, voting in 23 of Arlington’s 54 precincts occurs in public schools. According to the letter:
“Using alternative public buildings or other appropriate community facilities could allow schools to maintain their normal operations and enable Arlington students to continue learning.”
“If it is determined, after review, that the only option is a public-school building, we recommend a purposeful review of sites on school property which would allow for separation of the voting public from students, like relocatables (students can learn elsewhere in the building that day), gyms, annexes, etc.”
As part of its request, the organization offered alternative voting locations for each of the school sites. Among them:
- Arlington Mill Community Center for Randolph Elementary School
- Glencarlyn Library for Kenmore Middle School
- Westover Library for Cardinal Elementary School
- Courthouse Library for Innovation Elementary School
- First Church of Christ, Scientist for Arlington Traditional School
- Gulf Branch Nature Center for Yorktown High School
The decision on polling locations rests with the governing body of each locality — in Arlington, the County Board.
County elections director Gretchen Reinemeyer told ARLnow that the Electoral Board will “potentially” discuss the topic at its next meeting in coming days.
“We won’t be prepared to comment until the [current] election is certified,” she said.
School Board members on Nov. 12 are slated to vote on a staff proposal to close schools on Tuesday, June 15 next year, if Arlington is required to hold a state primary on that date. Democratic primaries for County Board, constitutional offices and legislative seats could potentially take place on that day.
School staff have suggested that the lost day, if it occurs, should not be made up. The day is in the middle of the last week of the 2026-27 school year.
APE’s position is that there is time to make the necessary changes to polling places by next June.
“Institutional inertia should not prevent APS students from accessing a day of learning,” the organization said in its letter to County Board members.
While students would lose a day under the proposal as currently envisioned, the school district would remain above the state minimum of 990 annual instructional hours.
APE suggested that county officials could be more creative when it comes to polling places, so students in the future can spend more five-day weeks in classrooms and meet 180-day minimums in addition to the 990-hour requirement.
The school system focusing primarily on the 990-hour requirement “represents a significant departure from its historical approach,” the organization said in a recent policy statement.
Prior to 2019, “APS treated days and hours as separate safeguards — 180 days was the instructional-day threshold, and excess hours provided additional protection against unforeseen closures,” the statement said.
After bottoming out with a 2022-23 calendar that had 175 instructional days for middle-school students and 176 for other students, School Board members have since attempted to craft calendars closer to, or above, 180 days.
