Board of Ed consolidates polling sites for school budget votes

The Riverhead Central School District Board of Education announced that it will consolidate its polling sites for the district’s annual school budget vote and trustee election down to one location during its regular meeting Tuesday.

The decision will be implemented for the 2025/2026 school budget vote, set for May 20. In-person voting will be held exclusively at Riverhead High School at 700 Harrison Ave. Since 2012, Philips Avenue Elementary, Riley Avenue Elementary, Roanoke Avenue Elementary and Aquebogue Elementary were available as polling sites for residents to cast votes for school district budget proposals. 

Board president James Scudder cited safety and security concerns as the reason for the switch. The decision is one that Mr. Scudder said required a great deal of consideration from the school district’s board, central administration and security team.

“It is of the utmost importance that we maintain the safety and security of our students and staff, and those members of our community coming to vote on our school budget and trustee elections next May,” Mr. Scudder said.

When the district evaluated the polling sites used during the last budget vote, Mr. Scudder said they found that the elementary schools lacked rooms large enough to accommodate voting that were also equipped with an exterior door.

“As such, this requires voters to traverse the buildings, corridors, pass classrooms, students and staff unabated to arrive at the designated voting site,” Mr. Scudder said. “This presents challenges in securing the safety of our youngest and most vulnerable population, since we are not permitted to utilize established security measures to vet individuals entering the buildings to vote. 

“For example, the district has no reasonable method to ensure that a voter does not have a weapon on them or is not a registered sex offender,” he said.

The gymnasium in Riverhead High School is large enough to house a polling site and has exterior doors. This, Mr. Scudder said, will prevent voters from having access to students or staff during the voting process. 

According to Mr. Scudder, the district did not see any patterns in voting that indicated the ability to cast at the elementary schools “had any significant impact on the number of voters each year.”

Riverhead resident Kimberly Wilder questioned the decision during the meeting’s public comment period. 

“I kind of understand that with all of the things happening in the world,” Ms. Wilder said. “But I just wonder if there are ways to think about how to really reach out a hand to the Phillips Avenue … and Roanoke Avenue [communities] that would be a little bit far from here and might have problems.”

The board recognized that the consolidation, “may create inconveniences for community members,” and Mr. Scudder noted that mail-in voting for school district elections — an option implemented just last year — will grant residents an opportunity to vote at their leisure, regardless of whether they are present in the district on Election Day. 

“This will allow any voters who may have trouble traveling to Riverhead High School an alternative means to cast their vote without leaving their homes,” Mr. Scudder said. 

Ms. Wilder expressed skepticism about the mail-in voting options, as it requires a lot of forethought on voters’ part, “which doesn’t always happen in a busy household,” she said.

Residents can request a mail-in ballot by filling out the application from the state’s Board of Elections. 

The application can be sent to the district clerk’s office no earlier than 30 days prior to election day. To request that the ballot be mailed, residents must submit their application to the district clerk no later than seven days before the election. Otherwise, residents can deliver their application to the clerk personally no later than the day before the election.

Early mail ballots, according to the state’s Board of Elections, must be received by the school district clerk by 5 p.m. on the day of election in order to be counted. 

“We want to emphasize the importance of voting and participating in the district’s elections,” Mr. Scudder said. “The board’s goal is to make voting as easy and efficient as possible, while also [making] every effort we can to ensure the safety and security of our students and staff.”

In July 2020, district voters rejected the proposed 2020/2021 school budget for a second time, resulting in drastic cuts to sports, music and other programs.