Parents at New York City schools that were roped into serving as early voting centers ripped officials Monday morning as they braced for a week without gyms and cafeterias.
The Board of Elections selected 33 public schools as voting locations for nine straight days — including five while classes are in session.
“No recess, no after-school activities, it’s bad!” griped parent Alex Benchimol outside PS 116 in Manhattan’s Murray Hill. “He knows what is going to happen and my son is stressed out.”
Outside of the city, only one other school in the entire state was tapped to serve as a voting center.
The arrangement — which has annexed gyms and cafeterias across all boroughs except Queens — has also sparked security concerns.
William Feliciano, 35, who works in law enforcement, said having strangers traipse through his 9-year-old daughter’s school was unnerving for him and other parents.
“It’s alarming,” he said. “I have to show my ID to get in and now to have the public just walk around inside, it’s a security concern. There are a bunch of community centers nearby. I don’t think this is the right venue.”
Fellow parent Jason Brigham echoed those anxieties while dropping off his 6-year-old daughter Monday.
“In an age of mass shootings, the general public walking in, one door away from the kids, it’s my biggest concern,” he said. “Normally, these doors are all locked and they will be open all week.”
Parents at the school lobbied against being pushed into service and convinced the Board of Elections to limit entry to the school’s rear to limit intermingling with students.
Moms and dads at other schools said they were either told about the plan late — or not at all.
The Board of Elections’ use of schools forced the Department of Education to bolster security at the selected campuses to reassure parents that their kids would remain safe.
Parent Kim Macari said city officials had plenty of alternate sites to host voting — and that kids should not be shackled to a classroom for an entire week.
“For a kid, it’s torture,” she said. “That’s my main concern, the disruption to the children, they won’t get the chance to run around at recess, no gym, lunch in the classroom. I’m all for early voting, but let’s do it in a less impacted place. How about the BOE office? See how disruptive they find it? How about the mayor’s office?”