Students at a school in Mount Pearl are expressing their concerns over the use of school facilities during the provincial election.
Aaron Norris is a grade 12 student at Mount Pearl Senior High and is also the student council president.
He says the school population as a whole is concerned about schools being used as polling stations.
He alleges that rules that were laid out in the back to school plan are not being followed, noting that people are concerned about the possibility of COVID winding up in the school system.
Aside from the safety concerns associated with the situation, he also believes allowing exceptions for an election is unfair to members of the school community.
He explains that there are parents who still aren’t allowed to come watch their child’s games and that they are talking about having on-site grads for students where they can’t bring in a date from outside the school community, yet they are going to allow “thousands” inside the doors to vote.
According to Norris, there are alternative options.
He explains that there is a hockey arena near the school, as well as the Mount Pearl Glacier, he feels having the schools open for voting is very unsafe at this time.