Wauwatosa Officials Urge Action Against School Board Polling Place Ban

WAUWATOSA -- A Wauwatosa committee is holding special meeting Tuesday night to consider whether they want to urge official action after the village's school board after the board resolved to ban polling places from schools after the Nov. 8 election.

The Wauwatosa Government Affairs Committee is holding a special meeting Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. at City Hall to put forward a resolution opposing the school board's decision to ban the use of schools as polling places during elections.

The committee's resolution also calls for the Wauwatosa City Administrator to open a dialog with the School Superintendent to work toward a solution.

Citing safety and security concerns in Wauwatosa schools, the school board voted in May to approve notification to the City of Wauwatosa that the District schools could no longer be used as voting locations after the November 8, 2016, election.

Discussion followed regarding community use of schools on voting days during the May meeting. Superintendent Phil Ertl cited many of the changes made to improve security to provide a safe learning environment on all school days, while City Clerk spoke about limited options for the city to relocate voters and asked to reconsider inservice days through the February primary and April election in 2017.

The School Board unanimously approved the ban, which affects half of the village's 14 polling places, which serve 15 of the Wauwatosa's 24 voting wards.

In the resolution put forward by the Government Affairs Committee, the resolution states that district schools are public, handicapped accessible, centrally located buildings with large rooms suitable for use as voting locations. The resolution also goes on to acknowledge the need for voting to occur in a cordoned off and secure area to ensure safety.

image: Patch file photo