Hillsborough Students Will Have School on Election Day

Township students will be going to school the same day residents will be going to the polls in November.

That is the biggest change in the 2013-14 school calendar, adopted by the Board of Education on Monday night.

Hillsborough had been the only school district in Somerset County that did not have school for students on Election Day, when buildings are used as polling locations, board member Judith Haas said. Security concerns, traffic and parking problems were cited as the reasons for the closure, although staffers had in-service days on election day.

But the Township Committee announced in April that the polling places had been realigned, eliminating elementary schools and the Auten Road Intermediate School as voting locations. However, the middle school and the high school would remain as polling places.

The list of new polling places can be found by clicking here.

While the elimination of elementary schools as polling places pleased board members, some raised concerns about security on Election Day at the middle school.

Board member Lorraine Soisson suggested that police officers be stationed at the school on Election Day to serve as security in case anyone entering the school attempted to go beyond the area designated for voting.

Superintendent of Schools Jorden Schiff said that the school district will be working with the police department to develop a security plan.

Under state law, uniformed police officers can not be stationed at polling places

Haas said it was a “major, major, major accomplishment” to have the elementary schools removed from the list of polling locations.

The 2013-14 school year will begin for students on Sept. 9, a week after Labor Day. The three days after Labor Day are in-service days for staff members, and the district will be closed on Friday, Sept. 6, for Rosh Hashanah.

The last day of school will be June 18.