WATERBORO – On Nov. 6, Waterboro voters will be casting their ballots in the Town Hall, rather than at the East building at Massabesic High School.

In Waterboro, the issue is safety, school officials say, partly due to the location of the East building.

The East building is separate from the main high school campus. It is near the RSU 57 office building and an internal roadway that bisects the property. With buses traveling the internal roadway to get to the main road, and students crossing from the main building to classes at the East building, the area can get pretty busy.

RSU 57 Superintendent Larry Malone and School Finance Director Colin Walsh said a subcommittee of the school board began discussing the issue a year ago. Waterboro, which has more than 5,200 registered voters, is the only municipality in the sprawling six-town district encompassed by RSU 57 that has voting at a school during student hours.

On election day, Malone noted, “all of a sudden, there are a a couple of thousand people here during school hours.”

“We assume their purpose is to come to vote, but it is a lot to manage,” Malone said.

The school board met with the town administrator and one of the selectmen, and then later talked about possible alternatives, he said. In the end, the board voted to discontinue voting on the property.

Other York County municipalities continue to hold elections at schools  in their community.

In November, Old Orchard Beach voters will again cast ballots in the gym at Old Orchard Beach High School — but there will be no students on campus because school officials have scheduled a professional development day for staff.

Old Orchard Beach Town Clerk Kim McLaughlin said she lobbied “for years” for the school to opt not to have students on campus during November elections.

“We’re allowing strangers to walk into the school,” on election day, when on other days, the campus doors are locked and those who visit must be specifically allowed in, she pointed out.

In Old Orchard Beach, voting takes place in the gym, which has its own entrance, but still, said Superintendent and Principal John Suttie, it was felt that a change was in order, at least for the November vote. The June primary took place in the gym, with students attending school, as usual.

The decision was made to make Election Day  a staff development day, and give students the day off.

“We’ve had students here in past, and we and don’t like it,” said Suttie. “It is not the best practice to have kids on election day in November. It’s hectic and there’s too much going on, even though the gym is on one side of side of the building and there’s a side door.”

In Biddeford, voters cast ballots at Tiger Gym at Biddeford High School and will do so this year. Students will have classes on Election Day, Nov. 6.

Superintendent Jeremy Ray said voters enter directly into the gym, so there is little to no contact with students. School staff, police, public works and other city staff pull together to make it work, Ray said.

There have been no security challenges, he said,  and the practice of voting at the school  can spark conversation among students about elections.

Biddeford City Clerk Carmen Morris said the police department provides officers for the hours when the polls are open — usually one officer is stationed inside the gym and another outside.

“We’re in a pretty secluded part of the school so typically there are no kids milling about,” Morris said.

In Sanford, voters in Ward 3 will cast ballots at the the new Sanford High School and Regional Technical Center Nov. 6, in one of the gyms, for the first time ever. The “after hours” entry will be used by voters, said City Clerk Sue Cote.

In Waterboro, Town Clerk Christine Torno said absentee ballots requests “are coming in like crazy,” and estimated she has close to 100, so far. She said that is due partially to the convenience of absentee voting and because a notice went out with tax bills that voting would be at the Town Hall.

Voters in Waterboro will enter the Town Hall, located on Townhouse Road, through the main door and then walk down the corridor to the “old Town Hall “ section to cast their ballots, and exit from there to the parking lot.

Torno said 3,600 voters cast ballots in the last gubernatorial election.

“We will be busy,” she predicted.

Voters will cast their ballots and also have the opportunity to partake of a slice of Americana on Election Day. Torno said the Massabesic High School Band will host a bake sale outside the Waterboro Town Hall that morning.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 780-9016 or [email protected].