Permission (or no permission) to use Power Tools

[AAllio]

Dear Members,
I am the Safety Mentor for team 2415. We are based at the Westminster Schools in Atlanta, GA. I just found out the other day (after our rookie year and using a variety of power tools in our RoboDen) that we have an official school policy that students NOT use any form of power tool on campus. I am devoted (as well as the head coach, mentors, and team members) to insuring that our robotics program remain strong and has the opportunity to further grow and develop.

I am posting here in hopes that teams at other schools which faced a similar "stubling point" could share with me their success stories on how they managed to secure permission from school officials the right for students to use all kinds of power tools in order to design and build prototypes as well as a working robot. My initial plans were to have our attorneys generate a waiver form that parents sign in order to grant permission for their child to use the power tools once they have been thoroughly taught all the safety precautions specific to each tool.

It might be worthy to note that we are a private school and that we have a relatively large endowment to "protect". All ideas and suggestions are more than welcome! Feel free to contact me directly at andreaa@westminster.net .

Thanks a bunch in advance! Andrea Allio