A decision by Fort Thomas school leaders to hold classes on primary election day drew concerns from county election officials and the public, who warned the move could create access issues for voters. Now, according to the district, the school will once again be closed on May 19.
In a letter from Fort Thomas Superintendent Brian Robinson he said, “We have given thoughtful consideration to community feedback and concerns raised about voter accessibility, which some suggest could result in voter suppression. In addition, we are expecting higher than typical voter turnout, due in part to a nonpartisan primary election for Fort Thomas City Council.”
The Fort Thomas Independent Board of Education originally voted at its March 9 meeting to amend the 2025-26 school calendar, making May 19 a school day.
The main concern about the school being in session, Campbell County Clerk Jim Luersen said, was access. Fort Thomas Schools don’t have buses, so during morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up, traffic in the area becomes congested.
“I’m not antagonistic to the schools or anything,” he said. “I mean, they’re doing what’s best for them, and they’ve got days to work with. So, we’re not at cross purposes. It’s just we want everything to go smooth.”
According to Luersen, the law was changed last summer to allow schools to be open on election days if they so choose. This is the first election where this law is in effect. The law is different on general election day during a presidential election, when schools are still required to be closed.
“As the board of elections, I can force any building, any entity that gets tax money, like a school to be a polling place, and I can say what building I want them, but they can tell me where in the building,” Luersen said. “I don’t have any say over that. I don’t have any say over whether they’re open or closed.”
Campbell County is precinct-based. Luersen said there are seven precincts in Fort Thomas, but people have to go to a specific location to vote based on where they live in the city. Johnson Elementary School, Highlands Middle School and Woodfill Elementary School are precinct locations, and Luersen said about two-thirds of Fort Thomas’ population votes there.
Luersen said his office had received complaints about the situation. In a letter he wrote to Robinson, Luersen said he “could certainly envision many complaints to the Attorney General’s office of voter suppression for not being able to access the polling locations.”
Fort Thomas historically has the highest voter turnout in Campbell County, Luersen said. Furthermore, in the upcoming May 19 primary, Fort Thomas’ City Council race, with 15 candidates, is the only ballot item on which independents or third parties can vote in the county.
LINK nky called and emailed Robinson on March 24 and again on March 25 for comment. As of this posting, Robinson has not provided a comment. LINK nky will update this story once Robinson responds.
During the March 9 school board meeting, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services Jamee Flaherty presented the recommended makeup days to the board. The district had two snow days to make up from earlier in the year. The two days in May selected to make up the snow days were May 19 and May 22.
School board member Clem Fennell IV and board chair Julie Kuhnhein made comments during the meeting about getting the makeup days in before the Memorial Day weekend to avoid having students return to school for one day.
“I think we all agree that trying to break up and come back after Memorial Day weekend is just not a great thing for anybody,” Fennell IV said at the meeting.
Robinson agreed, saying that single-day weeks are a challenge.
“Especially coming after a long weekend for purposes of completing final exams and a whole variety of reasons,” Robinson said during the meeting.
In the letter, Robinson said modification of the school calendar to address the closure will be determined at an upcoming board of education meeting.