How does a BOE not have any say over what a PTA/PTO can or cannot do- they run the school district- yes?
A BOE can say no playgrounds, no fundraisng, no donuts and sugar, yes?
A BOE can say we have bidded out these services (and thiese co's won) and our campuses may only use these vendors for - food, lights, computers, books, pencils, staplers, paper, copiers, asphalt, equipment)- yes?

The principal runs the school and is the taxpayers' and stakeholders' (community, parents, staff, students) school liason but ultimatley has final say. (pretty much like an autocrat)

Ultimately a principal could say no PTA or PTO anything if they wanted to (it wouldnt be wise but its not unheard of)

Any reason or connection between the secondhand playgound place owner and principal? (I find that suggestion odd)

I'd start at the top - BOE or whomever (District council or lawyer- and find out Exactly what the steps are to put in a playground- Get IT IN WRITING if need be- I'd rather have it take a little longer and know what my option were)

A project will never get done if people are butting heads and claiming they dont get any say or input- that's just a recipe for disaster IMHO


In our old District principla sat on PTA board and was on playground and Beautifcation committee -so she was never out of the loop- but for digging of holes, installation we had to have District do it OR have a District rep with the person(s) installing, digging holes, putting borders and cinder blocks around trees ( the who paid for it was a whole other story since the District tried to charge the schol's 3-4 times what a reg contractor (or parent) would do it for), the playground was transfered (gifted to school) and principal and facilty maintenace persons were in charge of upkeep or contacting vendor for upkeep (holes in crushed rubber padding, climbing wall rock s that came of, etc)

LAUSD was split into Mini- Districts and I've never heard of a school system that any one of my 3 older kids (we lived in 5 states (Military moves)) that run how you describe) I'd be living their and 'Shawnfuscious would be King of the PTA for Life' (not making fun of u or your post, either- just me)

Hope this helps

[ 10-31-2006, 02:39 AM: Message edited by: Shawn ]

I need to make a few clarifications. We are a large district with 13 elementary schools. Each has its own PTO or PTA (mostly pta's, 3 pto's.) Ourr board of Education has no say in what each of the indivdual parent groups do adn their permission is not needed. They do not fund any portion of the playgound or surroundings. This has all fallen squarly upon the indivdual schools. They have never choosen a vendor, nor had suggestions. The 'not a good vendor' comment was made by one of the maintenance and grounds people. The committee has done their homework, and have narrowed it down to three different vendors: Burke, Gametime and I believe Earthscapes. The princepal suggested we go to a man in town whom sells equipment that someone ordered, and for some reason cannot use. (kind of like a dicount second hand store but the items could be new)
Does anyone have any other vendors that they have found to be of good standing?

I agree with Perusing. Even though the principal was 'in the loop' that doesn't replace actually being present at the meetings. The principal may have thought that your committee was drafting a proposal to be presented to the school board, not an action plan to be carried out.

While the PTO and the Playground Committee have worked very hard to raise funds and investigate options I'd have to say that, no, you do not have the 'right' to choose the vendor. This is a decision that falls squarely on the admins' shoulders as they are the ones who also carry the long term burden of maintenance and liability issues. You mention that a board member told the principal that a certain vendor was no good. These kinds of references are critical to the success of your project.

If the district cites lack of funding for wanting to install the equipment themselves but you worry that they aren't up to the task, perhaps wait until additional funds can be raised to cover the added installation costs.

It's a tremendous thing that you and your team have done. To be able to contribute to the school in such a large way will impact the whole community. The children are blessed to have such a hard working team of parents. I say keep things on a positive note, welcome the principal as an important member of the team and understand that she really does need to run things by the district before such major decisions can me made.

100 percent with purusing...the principal has the final say. If it is on school grounds it belongs to the county and the principal is the counties representative on this particular piece of property....

d

I thought I answered this in the am today, but it must have gone to no man's land. [img]smile.gif[/img]

We put in a new playground a couple of years ago. There was a PTO playground committee. We included the principal, yes it is his playground and the Maintenance Dept. Head (he holds a playground certificate - legal what/what not etc.) These two were very key in our group.

1. Principal answers to the authorities above him for everything that happens on the property.

2. In our State & Community, there are several laws about what/how/where a playground may be installed. Our MD was able to steer us with the information we needed for meeting with vendors.

We ended up going with a vendor who was actually more expensive dollar wise; however, his product was much better quality, his customer service was much better than the others and our MD was comfortable with this company's products as well.

We fronted the money for the purchase. But it is a donation to the school. The liability down the road all falls on the "shoulder" of the district. They need to be involved with the decision making from the start.

The MD person talked with us at a meeting before the vendors to discuss and understand how the different companies put their equipment together, why some may be better than others, etc. We felt since they will be the one to oversee the upkeep, they should and would have a huge say in what vendor we went with.

remember, if you butt heads with the principal too much, you may end up with an ordered playground that is never allowed to go up.

IMO, you need to have the principal at and a part of the committee meetings for something as important as a playground. There are lots of legal ramifications that go along with it.

Our PTO is in the genesis of a playground replacement. We have had 3 meetings (playground committee) and come up with a plan of action. We have several dedicatied volunteers and a VP and treasurer to 'oversee' the committee. However, when we met with the princepal(she was always in the loop) and explained the course of action she then started to explain what we should or should not do. Examples are: she talked to the district andwas told by one person that a particular vendor was 'no good',so she does not wasnt us using them (even though they have the best pricing), she told us not to have the vendor install the equipment, the district could do that so that we could save money (so far, two other school have had the district put equipment in and both have had to be reinstalled due to mistakes, not to mention the one piece collapsed and hurt several children, she also told us what she did and didnot want in 'her' playground. My feelings are this: it is not her playground, it belongs to the children. It is her school, andwe have asked from input from all the teachers/staff. She was not to be excluded. We WILL have the vendor install (we don't trust the township people due to the record) and we don't want to void any warranty. Being the committee and PTo are raising the money, not her, we should be able to use any vendor that we choose.
Has anyone else had this problem? If so, how did you handle it? Thanks for all the help.