Key Points
- Teachers raised concerns about early voting on campus four days before the high school lockdown.
- Superintendent Kevin Smith renewed his request for a voting location away from the school.
- Police and school staff plan to review the incident, while town officials consider alternatives.
Why It Matters: The incident brings renewed attention to how Wilton accommodates early voting while protecting students and staff during the school day.
Four days before a report of a suspicious person led to a lockdown at Wilton High School, the president of the Wilton Education Association told the Board of Education that teachers were concerned about safety with early voting taking place on campus while students were in class.
On Monday, Oct. 26, a citizen’s call about a suspicious person approaching the Clune Center polling location possibly carrying a weapon brought a substantial police response to the Wilton High School campus and prompted a lockdown at the high school, security holds at nearby schools and instructions for poll workers to shelter in a secure room.
Thankfully, police found no threat during Monday’s investigation. Public Information Officer Lt. Anna Tornello said surveillance showed that “the person most closely matching the description entered the center and voted before leaving, without incident.”
Following Monday’s lockdown incident, Superintendent Kevin Smith said he renewed a request for town officials to find another early voting location away from the school.
Wilton Police Chief Thomas Conlan told GOOD Morning Wilton that police and school staff would meet Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, to review the incident, and that he would provide more information following the meeting.
In a statement issued afterward, First Selectman Toni Boucher said officials are discussing security procedures and plans for future elections, and that officials would revisit Comstock Community Center as a potential alternative. She said the issue had been added to the agenda for the next Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday, Nov. 2. No decision to relocate early voting was announced.
Teachers Raised Concerns Before Lockdown
At the BOE’s Thursday, Oct. 22, meeting, WEA President and WHS teacher Peggy Meurer questioned the security arrangements for early voting at the school.
“Right now, we have early voting going on at the high school, and it just feels unsafe,” she said.
Meurer described several doors separating the high school from the voting area in the Zellner Gallery, the Clune Center’s entry space. She expressed particular concern for people in the school’s D wing, which is located in the same building as the Clune Center, separated from the school’s main building by Kristine Lilly Way.
Meurer asked whether voting could be moved to another location. If that was not possible, she requested a police officer be present during early voting on behalf of teachers and students.
Meurer acknowledged that the likelihood of an intruder using voting as an opportunity to enter the school was slim, but described an officer’s presence as a precaution.
“I feel it would be like an insurance that we would never regret having, but we would definitely regret not having, if anything did happen,” Meurer told the BOE members.
Smith told GMW on Monday that school officials had requested another location when early voting was first adopted, during a meeting with Boucher and the registrars of voters.
Asked why early voting was taking place at the Clune Center during a school day, Smith responded, “You should ask the town government that question.”
He pointed to the district’s practice of closing schools on Election Day for security reasons, to avoid having large numbers of visitors on campus while classes are in session. From the outset, he said, the district felt early voting was “kind of out of sync with election day.”
Smith said he previously had requested the town provide an on-site police presence and described ongoing discussions between school and town officials about keeping schools secure and ensuring appropriate precautions.
Although previous early voting periods had generally gone smoothly, Smith said Monday’s incident raised fresh questions about using the school campus.
“Today’s example of somebody seeing something suspicious and then sending our school into ultimately a lockdown begs the question about why we’re doing this,” he said, adding that he sent another note following the incident, “asking them to revisit the wisdom of using the Clune as their early voting site.”
He said he expected further discussions with police, the town’s emergency management director, Boucher and the registrars.
“And to be clear, it would be my preference for the town to find another site not attached to a school to engage in early voting,” Smith said.
State Law Governs Police Presence at Polls
A new state law restricts police presence near polling locations.
Section 57 of Public Act 26-42, which went into effect on July 1, generally prohibits law enforcement officers from knowingly being within 250 feet of an election site, including an early voting location, subject to specified exceptions.
Those exceptions include circumstances requiring officers to protect against a serious threat to life or property. The law also permits an officer’s presence with permission from the secretary of the state or polling moderator.
Police Response Found No Threat
Police said Monday’s incident began at approximately 11:42 a.m. with a citizen’s report describing an older man allegedly carrying a “barrel” over his shoulder while walking toward the Clune Center, where early voting was underway. Police said officers cleared the area but did not locate anyone matching the reported description. Police later reviewed surveillance showing a man in a military-green jacket carrying a walking cane who partially matched the description but left before officers arrived.
Police said the high school was placed in lockdown because of its proximity to the Clune Center and the ease of access between the two. GMW was on campus during the response and observed numerous officers, including officers carrying long guns. Students later told GMW they moved into classroom corners, while poll workers said they sheltered in a windowless room, describing the gallery where voting takes place with two walls of floor-to-ceiling windows as a “fishbowl.”
Town to Reconsider Alternatives
Boucher said she was in close contact with the police chief and emergency management director, who were communicating with senior school officials during the incident.
“Together, we are considering plans for future elections and reviewing our security processes for polling places,” she wrote.
According to Boucher, hall monitors were assigned to prevent members of the public from entering the high school and student spaces during early voting.
She said town leaders had previously considered multiple alternative locations, identifying Comstock as the preferred option. However, she said renovations were necessary to provide the space and privacy required for voting.
“After today’s events, we will revisit this potential option,” Boucher wrote.
She said the budget implications would require BOS discussion and that the issue had been added to the board’s agenda for Monday, Nov. 2.
Tornello also said reconsidering public access to school campuses during classes could be warranted.
“Given the current political climate, I will say it may be prudent to reconsider allowing public access to school campuses while classes are in session, to be extra cautious and prioritize the safety of students and staff,” she wrote in response to GMW’s questions.
Tornello said reports of suspicious people and activities are common and that police take them seriously, particularly on school grounds.
“This turned out to not be an actual threat, however people report what they see, the way they interpret it,” she wrote. “We always take calls of this nature quite seriously, especially when they concern suspicious activities on school grounds, where children are.”
