Tools for our robotics team.

[cactuarman]

My team is having a rather large disagreement on where to store our tools and stuff over the summer. I believe that all the tools should stay at the school. There are others in our team(Our team is so small those others make up the majority) that want to store all the tools in one of the members garage. They argue that some stuff have previously been stolen from the robotics room and keeping it at there house would grantee its safety. The other argument they have for keeping the tools is that if they want to work on a project over the summer(not related to the robotics team) they wouldn't have them and the tools wont be locked up during the summer. I know what is right for our team but the majority of the team is against me. I need help coming up with arguments on why the tools should be kept at the school during the summer and not the members house. Also I'm not sure who in our school administration I could talk to to help back up my argument. Although I am kind of worried, even with an 'official decree' by the school, the members in our team are sort of the 'rebellious' type and tend to disregard the school and would end up ignoring it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

[dooey100]

Perhaps you need to think about why you want the tools kept at the school over the summer it you want to debate your position? To be completely honest, keeping the tools safe and being able to use them for projects sounds like some good reasons to keep them at the members house. (As long as they are willing to be accountable for damage and wear and tear that comes from using the tools)

[EricH]

Who owns the tools? If they're school property, then you would, of course, need permission to take them for non-school uses (robotics competitions presumably being a school use). Otherwise, the school could, if it so desired, pursue theft charges.

However, if the tools are team-owned, and you're worried about the safety of the tools if they are stored at school, members who are not graduating/leaving the team would be a pretty good choice. There is, however, one caveat that should be applied: If they don't bring them back in good working order in time for build season, they buy a replacement for the team. It might be good to get agreement to this in writing.

You could also suggest buying personal tools for personal projects, and robotics can't "borrow" those. Admittedly, this can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be.

Or, perhaps better, find out, from the powers that be at the school, what the procedure is for gaining access to the robotics area during times when school is completely closed (i.e., breaks). If you can work within that procedure, then you can check on things whenever somebody needs to check out a tool for a side project/robotics project. (And by check out, I mean: Write down your name, contact info, and tools you have on a sheet of paper and leave it with the other tools, then indicate when you return them.) If something is missing that isn't checked out, then you check the team members. If they don't have it, contact the authorities, starting at the school level. (If I were principal, I'd want to know that someone was in the building that shouldn't have been there.)

[AndyB]

Eric made some very great points. And it kind of leaves me wondering, what are your reasons for wanting to keep them at the school?

[Andy L]

I think they should be kept at school, a school's security and insurance is much more reliable than a student's.

What you should do is take an inventory of all your tools and where they are in the shop, give a copy to your school, and a few team members. If anything is stolen from your shop then you have proof and your school knows it was there before the break.

[Mr. Freeman]

The school's insurance doesn't necessarily cover any of these tools. A school's security SYSTEM might be better than a student's, but there's going to be A LOT of people allowed in.
Teachers, janitors, workmen, contractors, etc. Any of which could quite easily steal any of the tools without raising any suspicion. If they're allowed in the building then there isn't going to be any evidence as to which particular person stole the tools.

Honestly, storing the tools as a student's house seems like the best idea to me. Is there any non-obvious reason that the tools shouldn't be stored at a student's house?

[Tom Line]

Make it simple - get the best of both worlds.

Inventory the tools before they take them. Anything that doesn't come back or comes back damaged, they have to replace.

[McGurky]

For sure a students house, we also have a robotics room, and we keep it locked 24/7 when not in use. we have had quite a bit stolen over the past year from 2 by 4s to tools. the thing is, even if the door is locked, keys for that room are everywhere!!! there are how many teachers that have them??? they all could come in and "borrow" something. as said, in the summer, all kinds of work gets done on the school, and the builders get full access to the school, i wouldnt take the chance.

The best part is, that if your team needs the tools for an off season project, then they are right there for your use!!!!!!!!

[amariealbrecht]

They both have great risks. If they are stored in an unlocked room at your school then that puts up red flags for me, I would almost recommend that in that case they stay at a students home because the foot traffic in a students home is usually recognizable to those that he or she knows. In a school you are never quite sure, especially over the summer. If your teams feels more comfortable keeping them in the school, I would push for a room that ONLY your team has access to, therefore, something that is locked and your mentor could hold a key. If that is not possible then I would say that if a student wanted to assume the responsibility to look after tools, he or she would be 100% accountable when the tools were to be brought back at the beginning of next years build season. This means replacing any tools that were damaged or stolen from his or her home.
Good luck debating this one out!

[cactuarman]

Thanks for all the responses. Lots of great suggestions were pointed out. Perhaps taking inventory and leaving the guy 100% would be a good idea. Righ now though I am doing a little detective work on my own to see if our room is as unsecure as they say it is. Suposidly the only reported item stolen was a color laser printer. I don't think someone stole it but rather its previous owner(year book) took it back.
This is definatly somthing to contemplate about.