I see your worry. The Principal will hopefully asnwer your question and truthfully, but what if you don't get the answers that you are looking for? Where do you go to from there?
Well, firstly I have to ask whether the school has a School Council? Most school's are required by their city and/or state to have a School Council. And usually the requirement is that there should be the same number of parents on the council as their are staff members. For example, the requirement for my school (not sure if it is a state or city requirement) is that there should be 4 staff members and 4 parents, as well as the Principal, and that city/town representatives are allowed as well.
This School Council should be making decisions regarding school improvement. With this comes a budget that should be available. This means that the funds being provided to the Principal, for whatever purposes, should be available to all. This doesn't mean that it will include salaries (though that is usually public knowledge as well), but if a specific amount is given for technology, it should be in there.
Next might be to go to the Superintendant of School's office. In my town her office is within the High School. There are numerous employees, including the Superintendant of School, School Committee members, a Business Manager, a Director of Special Education, a Direcotor of Personel Services and a Director or Teachning and Learning Excellence.
So if I was not able to find out the information to my satisfaction after discussing it with the Principal and/or the School Council, next I would be talking to the town's School Committee and maybe the Business Manager or my Ward's School Committee member.
Definitely you need to talk to the principa about her perception of the need, the current volume, and what information is available.
Some of this she will know. Other information may have to be tracked down with the school secretary or someone in procurement.
Also, keep in mind that copying/printing is an expense that is growing by leaps and bounds. Not everyone supports this trend, but find it wasteful and schools are being asked to cut back, not increase, their usage.
Beyond that, there's also the question of what is available via printers. If a teacher has a one or two page handout, they may simply send them to a printer versus copying them. Organizations aren't very good about keeping track of per page costs and educating employees as to cost saving measures. (Is it better to print 100 copies on the local laser jet printer or on a copier?)
Do you have any advice on how to go about getting the answers to the questions you mentioned? I am assuming the most logical answer would be to ask the principal. Don't get me wrong, our PTO has a good relationship with the principal. I'm just not sure I would get 100% accurate answers. She tends to go with the easy answers.
One copier? For almost 600 students? That's just crazy.
We have one for each grade (1 through 4) and 2 others in the main office, one being a mass copier machine.
This one is tough for me. IMO, this is the kind of thing that should fall to the town. I mean, so much of what we do is cover the short comings of a town, but a copier machine is a system that has to be provided for the school to be able to function. Here's some easy questions...
Has the Principal requested a couple of new copiers?
Does the Principal receive funds for technology such as this?
And if so, what has he/she been purchasing instead?
The point is that most towns or cities provide funds for this type of requirement. If your town is not there is a bigger problem that needs to be addressed. If they are, but the Principal is either not requesting it, using it for what it is supposed to be used for, or just not spending it; then there is a big problem.
If you do buy this then you will likely need to obtain "permission" from the town's School Committee, as very often they have requirements that anything that one school gets has to be provided to all of the other schools. Of course, the one way around this is the parent group, but you'll still need permission. In addition, you'll need to draft a Donation letter and formally donate the copier to the school so that all supplies and maintenance will fall under the school and not your group.
Personally I would not be willing to do this as I strongly feel that this is a bare bones requirement that the town must provide for the school to function, but if you end up doing it make sure you do gift it.
Depending on the model, it may already be tracking number of copies per user/department. Especially if they have to key in an ID code to use the machine.
My elementary school had 2 large copiers in the room next to the lounge and one in the office. It was difficult for the PTO to get time on the machine during the day, so we needed to use the central copy department at the board of ed office to do a lot of our duplications or come in the evening.
Although we state that money needs to benefit all students, you have to realize how many handouts, games, assignments, homework items are duplicated by teachers every day. That extra copier will help each child by enabling them to get more handouts for their grade curriculum.
When looking, try to get some info from the school first. Keep a log at the one copier at the school and ask that all teachers and staff log in the # of copies they make each time. Do this for 2 weeks. You will get to know how many copies you are running on it weekly to determine the size of the copier you will need. Also, don't cut that # in half figuring that each copier will now only handle 1/2 that number. Teachers may copy MORE than before since they will have more of an opportunity.
Larger copiers are more economical need less maintenance so you want to be sure to get one that handles the number that the teachers and PTO need.
