Safety of the students in the schools on election days is the primary reason.
Posted to Frankfort Patch by Nancy Neuzil, District 157-C Public Relations Coordinator
Patch Contributor
September 21, 2017
A joint effort by the Will County Clerk’s Office, the Village of Frankfort and Frankfort School District 157-C determined that Frankfort polling places will be moved out of 157-C grade schools. Safety of the students in the schools on election days is the primary reason, along with the need for protection of valuable educational time and additional safety concerns due to increased traffic and parking. Some districts have addressed this problem by closing the schools on Election Day, however, this disrupts the flow of the school week and also causes scheduling and child care problems for parents.
District 157-C keeps all school doors locked when children are in the building and utilizes a strict school visitor management system (Raptor Visitor ID software) to provide instant background checks on all visitors. However, on election days the schools must have a portion of the building open and available for voting, meaning it may not be as safe as normal operating days when voting is not taking place. Superintendent Dr. Maura Zinni stated, “The safety of our students is our utmost concern. We have been doing our best to keep the children secure by cordoning off a portion of each building and having a separate entrance for voters. But on election days those doors have to remain unlocked and everyone is allowed access to the school. We are very pleased that the Will County Clerk has made the official arrangements to move the polling places out of the schools to keep our children safer. As always, our community members are always welcome in our buildings during our regularly scheduled community events.”
The Will County Clerk’s Office was able to locate convenient alternative polling places for those previously housed in the Frankfort schools. All households with active registered voters will be receiving a Voter Information Guide in January 2018. The guide will provide detailed information on voting options and a sample ballot. The County Clerk’s Office will also be sending out new voter identification cards in January 2018 to all registered voters who were affected by the polling place changes. In addition, voters are welcome to use the Polling Place Lookup feature on their website at www.thewillcountyclerk.com.
The polling place changes are shown below and will take place effective with the General Primary Election on March 20, 2018.
Frankfort Township Precincts 11 and 27 which previously voted at Hickory Creek Middle School, 22150 W. 116th Avenue in Frankfort will now vote at Parkview Christian Church, 2121 Schoolhouse Road in New Lenox.
Frankfort Township Precinct 23 which previously voted at Grand Prairie Elementary School, 10840 W. Nebraska Street in Frankfort will now vote at the Frankfort Village Hall, 432 W. Nebraska Street in Frankfort.
Frankfort Township Precinct 26 which previously voted at Chelsea Intermediate School, 22265 S. 80th Avenue in Frankfort will now vote at the Frankfort Public Library, 21119 S. Pfeiffer Road in Frankfort.
Frankfort Mayor Jim Holland will provide the Frankfort Village Hall as one of the new polling places in the interest of the safety of the children in the schools. He stated, “The Village of Frankfort stands ready to welcome voters of Precinct 23 to the Village Administration Building at Nebraska and Route 45 during next spring’s election. The Village will also continue to offer early voting at the same location to all Frankfort residents.” More information can be found at www.villageoffrankfort.org.
District 157-C has posted a reminder about the locations of the new polling places on its website at www.fsd157c.org. Dr. Zinni continued, “We are very grateful that Clerk Nancy Schultz Voots and Mayor Jim Holland worked with us to increase safety for our students. We also thank Parkview Christian Church, the Village of Frankfort, the Frankfort Public Library and our community members for supporting us in this effort that will allow us to keep our schools safely locked throughout all school days.”