Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Riverhead board to consolidate May 20 budget vote to high school citing security concerns
Summary
The Riverhead Central School District said it will move its May 20, 2025 school budget vote from four elementary polling sites to Riverhead High School to improve building security, citing lack of exterior-door polling rooms and an inability to vet entrants at elementary buildings.
A board member of the Riverhead Central School District told the board that, "safety and security are the district's top priorities," and announced the district will consolidate the school budget voting location to Riverhead High School beginning with the 05/20/2025 school budget vote.
The board cited that none of the district's four elementary schools has a room with an exterior door that can serve as a contained polling site, forcing voters to move through corridors and past classrooms during the school day. The statement said that the district has "no reasonable method" to vet entrants at those elementary buildings to ensure someone is not carrying a weapon or is a registered offender, creating "unacceptable circumstances" for students and staff.
The announcement noted historical practice: until February 2011, all school budget votes were held at Riverhead High School, and the administration said voter data did not show that adding polling sites increased turnout. The board acknowledged the change could inconvenience some voters and emphasized early mail voting as an alternative, saying early mail voting allows a ballot to be mailed to any voter upon request.
The board said it will provide more information to the public about the consolidated location and voting options. The statement concluded by reiterating the district's goal "to make voting as easy and efficient as possible while also taking... steps to maintain these important safety and security measures." The transcript records the announcement being read aloud by an unnamed board member; the statement contained specific references to the 05/20/2025 vote, the four elementary schools, and the gymnasium at Riverhead High School as the proposed contained polling site.
Next steps: the board said it will provide additional details on how the consolidated vote will be administered and information about early and mail voting; the transcript does not record a follow-up motion or a recorded vote on this consolidation during the provided segment.
