HANCOCK – Because of concerns about the safety of students, faculty and staff at Gordon G. Barkell Elementary School in Hancock, voting will no longer be conducted in the school building, according to Monica Healy.

Healy, who is Hancock Public Schools superintendent, said at the recommendations of the Michigan State Police, the United States Department of Homeland Security and emergency preparedness contacts, it was decided to ask the city to move the polling place for Precinct 2 to another location.

“They said you should limit access to your buildings,” she said.

Healy said school officials began last spring considering the situation with having polling places in the school, and whether it was prudent to continue.

On most days, Healy said, people coming into Barkell are required to check in at the principal’s office so they can be escorted through the building. However, on Election Day that requirement isn’t enforced, and many people are coming in to vote.

“On Election Day, teachers are teaching, and they can’t really check (who is moving through the building),” she said.

Healy said she contacted Hancock City Manger Glenn Anderson about finding a new location for the Precinct 2 polling place.

“The city was great working with us for the last election,” she said.

It was hoped a new polling location other than the schools could be found before the March 8 presidential election, Healy said, but that didn’t work out, so the middle school building was used instead.

The Hancock Public Schools Board of Education will discuss the issue of discontinuing using school buildings for polling places at its March 21 meeting, Healy said.

Anderson said the new location for the Precinct 2 polling place is the city fire hall on Ethel Avenue. State officials said although the fire hall isn’t in the Precinct 2 boundaries, it was close enough, so it would be OK to use as a polling place. There will be no more elections in the city schools.

“We respect the schools’ concerns about safety,” he said.

Barkell has been used as a polling place since it opened in the 1980s, Anderson said, and city representatives appreciate having that access.

Anderson said the fire hall will be the permanent location for Precinct 2. The voting cubicles will be set up in the training room, so they won’t interfere with the fire trucks responding to an emergency.

Healy said moving the polling place from Barkell is a good idea.

“It boils down to the safety of the kids,” she said. “It just makes sense.”