Bourne school official questions safety of middle school Precinct 4, 7 poll location

BOURNE — Voting was busy during Election Day on Nov. 8 at Precincts 4 and 7 in the Bourne Middle School gym, but there seemed to be no major problems at the polls.

School Committee Chair Emily Berry, however, claims otherwise in a post-election message to select board members, saying there were traffic safety problems along the approach to the school, parking lot confusion and students were unable to use the gym where voting was underway.

This may emerge as another snag for using the middle school as a poll location. Town Clerk Barry Johnson and Bourne Public Schools officials prior to the election acceded to sentiment raised by the Select Board member Judith Froman that there should be more security between the school staff and students and the polling location in the gym.

The barrier put in place allowed voters, poll workers and students to safely co-exist on Election Day.

Now new issues and essential questions may unfold about other situations. Berry sent her message to Select Board Chairman Peter Meier. He says Berry's concerns should also be referred to the full school committee for a discussion about voting day matters.

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“She wants the polls to leave the middle school; we await school committee input and consideration,” Meier said. “If there is going to change or moving the polls from the school, we’ll need to have a practical discussion among the select board, school board, the town clerk and the town administrator, to see what can be done to fix the problem — if there is a real problem with the location.”

Perhaps equally important, Meier says that in any initial consideration of new polling sites, no good alternatives come to mind. Town Clerk Johnson agrees with Meier.

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There are two roadway approaches to Bourne Middle School along Waterhouse Road and Trowbridge Road past Bourne High School. Both are heavily traveled in the early morning and late afternoon, especially when students at the three schools in the complex are let out for the day.

Trowbridge Road connects with the rotary at the foot of the Bourne Bridge Rotary and the five-way Trading Post Corners intersection. Waterhouse Road connects with Trowbridge Road in Bourne Village and Route 28 (MacArthur Boulevard).

Adding voters to the mix increases traffic volume at times in the village, and Meier acknowledges there is room for concern about traffic congestion in and out of the middle school parking lot. Although he does not know about the poll location negatively affecting students, especially at the end of the school day.

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Police Chief Brandon Esip checked with officers who worked on Election Day and was told there were no traffic safety or congestion problems.

“At one point, one officer had to request a school transport van to move because it was blocking the entrance," he said, adding the officer said the driver moved the van without complaint.

“One voter approached one detail officer, expressing they were confused by the blinking red light at the school entrance from Trowbridge Road,” Esip said. “No officers reported any issues that day. No congestion or safety issues were observed by or reported to the officers. Also, no one from the school committee or Bourne Public Schools has reached out to the department or either of our two School Resource Officers about any concerns.”

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Meanwhile, Johnson said last week he too is unaware of school committee concerns. He says there are no other practical voting places available and that he received no reports from voting wardens in either precinct.

“Police officers are on duty outside the gym entrance,” he said. “One starts at 6 a.m. and there is one until the wardens close out their precincts. And the other one is there from 7:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.; or when the vast majority of the students leave.

Johnson said “in cooperation with everyone involved we installed a large steel gate that blocks access into the corridor leading into the school hallway. The officer holds the (gate) key and allows only our election workers through it to use the restroom.”

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The gym is at the back of the middle school at the end of the school parking lot with a circular traffic flow that at times, is not so circular.

The polls service voters from South Sagamore to Monument Beach south of the canal.

Other precincts vote in rooms set aside at the Main Street Community Center with adequate parking in Buzzards Bay; North Sagamore fire headquarters with inadequate parking and St. John the Evangelist Parish Center in Pocasset, which includes the large church parking lot off Shore and Barlows Landing roads.

On Election Day 57% of registered voters in town cast ballots. That showing includes absentee and mail-in ballots and early voting.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Election polls at Bourne Middle School not safe, school official says