[dtengineering]

By and large it makes sense to not allow students to use power tools, both for liability and safety reasons, UNLESS they are both instructed and supervised by qualified individuals, preferably teachers with training in technology education or industrial education.

Surely there are schools in your district that have shops, and have developed appropriate guidlines rather than blanket bans on power tool use. Perhaps those could serve as a model.

In general, however, the power tool ban leaves me shocked. I can't think of a public secondary school in British Columbia that doesn't have some form of shop or that would ban students from using power tools. Almost all schools across the province have woodwork shops, and most have Metal and/or Automotive shops, and specifically trained teachers to run them.

Jason