BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Should schools be used as polling places? That's the question one Buffalo schools mom is raising, concerned for her kids' safety.
Outside North Park Academy, Buffalo Public School 50, Kristin Barber keeps a close watch on the safety of her children. In some cases, she keeps them home when the public is invited in.
"My children are training how to protect themselves against an active shooter and then a couple times a year, the Board of Elections says, we'll open the doors and let anyone in. Sorry," Barber explained.
Barber says, that's what happened last June, during special election day.
Earlier this month, the 7 News I-Team published a story about school security. That prompted renewed concerns for Barber, coupled with the New York State School Boards Association's explanation that schools "are required to set aside security procedures and allow unrestricted access to their buildings."
WATCH: Why can't polling places be moved from schools?
Barber: The commissioners have the opportunity to review what could be unsafe and make a change and they are not making that review.
Drantch: And thus putting your kids at risk.
Barber: Correct.
Erie County Democratic Board of Elections Commissioner Jeremy Zellner, insists that's not the case. He told the 7 News I-Team there hasn't been any violence at polling places.
Drantch: The idea that they are required to set aside security protocols for that day, is that alarming for you?
Zellner: Well, when they have school plays, musicals, I don't think that they fingerprint folks and ask them to show their idea of who they are, either so...
Drantch: But their Evolv metal detectors might be on still, or the doors might be locked. In certain cases, in this case, though, they have to be open and their systems turned off.
Zellner: Yeah, I think Ed, I guess my point is this, we must hold elections in this country in safe, secure places.
In a statement sent to the 7 News I-Team, the Buffalo School District says, "we agree with our parents because opening school buildings to the general public can increase security risks from outsiders and disrupt learning."
In years past, almost 40 Buffalo schools were used as polling places. That number has been cut by more than half. Today, the 7 News I-Team has discovered 17 schools around Buffalo are used as polling places, including School 50.
Drantch: If you've gotten out of almost half of those 39, why can't we get out of the remaining 17?
Zellner: Well because there are a lot of places where there literally is just no other place to hold an election that is accessible, that is safe, that has parking that has lighting, that have bathrooms that are heated for folks to be able to vote at. We don't want to be in public schools if we don't have to be. But there are some places that we just have no other alternatives.
But in a 2023 email, obtained by the 7 News I-Team, between Zellner and the Buffalo Public School District, it appears the district tried to find alternate locations for polls other than schools.
"I am not inclined to act at this time on any moving of BPS sites," Zellner wrote in the email. "Nor in my opinion do the alternative sites you suggested adequately meet our needs."
Almost three years later, it's the same story.
Drantch: Will you commit at least to finding a different site, other than school 50?
Zellner: We're always looking for new alternatives when someone raises an issue.
But Republican Commissioner Ralph Mohr says he has "no problem moving voting out of School 50."
Yet, Mohr says the Board of Elections hasn't found a viable option for a polling place in that area.
New York State election law says schools should be looked at first as polling places.
Drantch: Does the state law need to be changed to eliminate schools from polling places?
Mohr: Very much so. It's those types of regulations that hinder both the Board of Elections and school districts from finding a reasonable solution to this problem.
Until then, Barber's message is simple. She wants schools closed on special election or primary days or polling moved out of School 50.
"It's concerning to me," Barber said. "In this age when we have rampant school shootings, we've suffered an immense tragedy here in Buffalo ourselves, the news in houses of worship, in schools everywhere. this is a real issue..."
For some perspective, outside the City of Buffalo about 18 schools are used as polling places in Erie County, from Amherst to Eden.
Zellner said he's concerned some voters would be disenfranchised, if they moved the remaining polling places.
The school district says it still has safety concerns and has spoken "more than once" about those concerns with the Board of Elections.
