Students Stay Home as Portland School Votes
Families with children at Portland polling-site schools should ask how voting day will affect attendance and campus access.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Secondary Education
Live Poll
Should schools in your area remain polling sites on Election Day?
Some students at Portland's Deering High School stayed home on Election Day after the school district denied a request for a virtual school day. Deering is one of three Portland Public Schools buildings serving as polling locations.
Why it matters
For families with students in Portland, the episode shows how a school doubling as a polling site can leave students uneasy about their own building on voting day. Students cited concern over immigration enforcement and the presence of Department of Justice poll watchers as reasons for staying away.
Deering High School is one of three Portland Public Schools buildings used as polling places, and more than 900 people had voted there by 2 p.m. on Election Day. The school district declined a petition from staff and students requesting a virtual school day.
The players
Deering High School
A Portland, Maine public high school serving a diverse population with many immigrant families, and also a city polling site.
Portland Public Schools
The district that denied the students' request for a virtual school day and oversees three polling-site school buildings.
The details
Students distributed fliers on Monday calling on classmates to stay home and skip the day. Late the previous week, staff and students presented the superintendent with a petition for a virtual school day; the superintendent brought it to the school board, which consulted the city clerk, the Secretary of State, and the local police department, all of whom advised there was little risk. Extra staff were onsite at Deering, and the polling place sits in a self-contained area separate from student spaces.
Timeline
Monday before Election Day: students distribute fliers urging classmates to stay home.
Late the week before Election Day: staff and students present a petition for a virtual school day.
November 3, 2026: students stay home from Deering High School on Election Day.
November 4, 2026: attendance data for the strike becomes available.
The Home Front
Schools that double as polling places have become a recurring election-day flashpoint, following more than a dozen lockdowns after hoax shooting threats on Election Day 2024. Families in districts where school buildings host voting face the same tension between access to polls and student comfort.
If your child attends a school that also serves as a polling site, ask the school how voting day will be handled and whether students will be on campus. Consider talking with your teen about their concerns before election days so they know what to expect.
The takeaway
When a school doubles as a polling place, families benefit from knowing in advance how the building will operate on voting day. Ask your district whether attendance will be affected and whether staff will be onsite.
Further reading
For more on how schools are navigating these challenges, browse Secondary Education coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Portland Press Herald.
Live Poll
Should schools in your area remain polling sites on Election Day?
