are school yards private property

[Tom_in_CA]

...... If the janitor says no not a biggie! .....

Here's the answers to your "what if" in that case:

1) Then you just precluded yourself from a possible good hunt spot where, truth be told, perhaps no one would have cared less.

2) If you fetch that possible arbitrary "no" , then guess what happens when that same janitor sees another md'r out there later ? (to whom he might possibly have never paid attention to). He'll remember the earlier inquiry and think: "Aha! There's one of *them*", and start booting others. We had this happen in our area, and trust me: We were all sort of irked by the person who had effectively gotten the schools off-limits. Prior to that, it wasn't an issue, till the guy took it upon himself to ask.

 

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[Chizzy]

I hunt schools at will.......as long as the kids are not anywhere nearby. I have retrieved and returned a lost ring at a school tot lot, returned junk jewelry to the school's Lost and Found, cleaned every bit of litter on the grounds while detecting, made nice with teachers and maintenance personnel and handed out penny finds to the inquisitive kids when they approach with questions......I do the same thing at parks. You would be amazed at the positive responses..........I have always been welcomed!!
Try a little honey during your activities; it will go a long way!!

 

[RVRoamer74]

old elementary school had been shut down for years, just sitting there looking delicious.......had to walk by a 'no trespassing ' sign and take my chances.....after 5 different hunts I finally
got caught by a guy that patrols that area, he said didn't you see the sign, I said what sign, that one over there as he pointed in the direction of the sign, I said oh, ya, that sign, thought that
was for vandals not good tax paying citizens......shook his hand, said no problem, have a good day.....I'll go back again, when the guard changes......

 

[Tom_in_CA]

old elementary school had been shut down for years, just sitting there looking delicious.......had to walk by a 'no trespassing ' sign and take my chances.....after 5 different hunts I finally
got caught by a guy that patrols that area, he said didn't you see the sign, I said what sign, that one over there as he pointed in the direction of the sign, I said oh, ya, that sign, thought that
was for vandals not good tax paying citizens......shook his hand, said no problem, have a good day.....I'll go back again, when the guard changes......

Good post. And it goes to illustrate how sometimes md'rs need to just "grow a set". Sure, don't throw caution to the wind. But on the other hand, md'rs over-think and worry too much. Some things are akin to "spitting on sidewalks" type of laws. Or "annoyances" type laws. That .... you have to sort of think between the lines. Either that, or you'll end up worrying your life away, and hide in your house all day long "lest someone get mad".

 

[fish1on]

My Son is the head custodian/maintenance man at an elementary school and knows all of the others within the county.

 

[Snap on Man]

When I am detecting a school I keep some plastic jars with all the stuff I feel should not be on the play ground. Broken glass, pens, pencils, bobby pins, thumb tacks, nails, screws and pieces of broken iron from the wood chipper. I don't know about where you live, but the wood chips here are full of metal. The way I look at it, we are doing them a favor. Not only are we cleaning the area up for FREE but we are keeping some lawyer from suing the school system.

 

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

Some schools are indeed privately owned..at least here.
Not sure but I would imagine is the US too there are some elite, or religious type schools that are private ?

Most important is;
1, do an excellent job on your holes, so no one will ever know you dug a hole. I've seen people at this type of place without a pin pointer, cutting the plug into many pieces, leaving a regurgitated mess behind. Some people should not own a detector.

And 2, as has already been mentioned is to go during low traffic times. One very local school I like to go on a rainy Sunday, as it seems they are always playing soccer otherwise. Going when there is a bunch of people around is just asking to get asked to leave, for sure there will be someone there who won't like you "getting rich".

Last, even a place that does not disallow MDing it seems that any attention one draws to oneself is most often not good. I just saw a video re the new garrett wireless headphone setup, 3 dudes go into a busy park with fairly large shovels, I just shake my head, and glad they don't live near me.

 

[ivan salis]

in many cases they are restricted access "public property "...meaning mr john q public ...will need "special" permission to go there and dig

 

[RVRoamer74]

Schools here where I live are pretty much ok with MD'ing. Summer time is the best, no kids or teachers usually. I personally won't hunt a school unless it is very old anyway. I am not a fan of digging recent clad, which when you do, you leave all kind of plugs, here and there and everywhere. I am hunting for the older stuff that some of these old schools can hide. Especially the old ones that are shut down and have been bought out. Most of these old schools are way out in the country, just you and nature, the old school, and of course the ghosts of times went by......

 

[Honest Samuel]

Go search the public schools, and if a staff member give you a hard time, ask then for a written document that forbid searching with metal detectors. Good hunting and good luck.

 

[fish1on]

Wear a safety vest and everyone assumes you are locating utilities

 

[Tom_in_CA]

.... and if a staff member give you a hard time, ask then for a written document that forbid searching with metal detectors. ...

Well, you could certainly *try* this approach, but I'm afraid it won't get you very far. Ie.: to tell them to "show you where it's written" or "show me the law", etc.... will usually not get you anywhere. Here's why:

They could merely say you're violating verbiage that addresses "alter and deface". Or "harvest and remove" (since you "remove" coins afterall). Or.... heck, they could say you fall afoul of verbiage that dis-allows "annoyances" if they wanted to. And do you really think you're going to win that battle of semantics ? If you try to "ramp it up" to over-turn them (ie.: "seeking clarification" from higher sources to over-turn a booting and semantics battle) then you might merely get a rule WRITTEN . To "address this pressing issue".

Hence confrontation is not always the best tactic.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Wear a safety vest and everyone assumes you are locating utilities

oooohhhhh Are you advocating being "deceptive" ? Advocating "sneaking around" ? Tsk tsk, how can you live with yourself ?

Seriously now: I agree. Metal detecting is kind of like nose-picking: Not necessarily illegal, but .... Sheesk, for pete's sake, sometimes you/I need to use a little discretion in our timing, so "as not to offend the squeemish". If that means picking lower traffic times, FINE. If someone wishes to call that "sneaking around", ok, fine then: SNEAK AROUND.

 

[RVRoamer74]

ya, you have to be diplomatic when hunting school grounds. Best to just 'blend', be nice, polite, and also leave if someone ask you to. I would not question
anyone that didn't like me there. Most times this one 'guard' is a loner and is feeling his oats, maybe he will get transferred somewhere else, or maybe not there
everytime you might try to 'blend' again..........GL HH & blend.....

 

[Keith Jackson]

I remember reading somewhere that my local schools are off limits for detecting. I am not sure if that was written at the state or county level. However, my county parks are open for detecting with a few stipulations. There are 2 parks that are closed to detecting since they are historic sites. The others can be detected as long as all holes are filled, no detecting is done on the sports fields, and anything historic is turned over to the county.

 

[Keith Jackson]

Good post. And it goes to illustrate how sometimes md'rs need to just "grow a set". Sure, don't throw caution to the wind. But on the other hand, md'rs over-think and worry too much. Some things are akin to "spitting on sidewalks" type of laws. Or "annoyances" type laws. That .... you have to sort of think between the lines. Either that, or you'll end up worrying your life away, and hide in your house all day long "lest someone get mad".

This is what I don't understand. In the post that you replied to, he commented that he knowingly walked by a No Trespassing sign to detect the grounds and will again when they have a different guard. How is this a good thing? This is not a case where there isn't a rule specified. This is simply a case of "I don't like the rule, so I won't follow it." Great light to shine on the community.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Keith-Jackson, after reading your post, I had to go back and reread what rv-roamer had written. I see now that I miss read it. I thought he was saying in his post that the person who accosted him let him continue.

Ok, but getting back to the issue: not sure about other states and parts of states, but in all the schools I've seen with fences and signs, they are just to stop troublemakers. The neighborhood folks still goes there to jog, fly a kite, walk their dog, etc.....

I suppose we could say shame on them, right? Or we could see the signs has nothing but obligatory legal steps, so nobody can see them when you slip and fall. But sure, if they're actually enforced and someone really cares, then by all means don't go in.

 

[RVRoamer74]

This is what I don't understand. In the post that you replied to, he commented that he knowingly walked by a No Trespassing sign to detect the grounds and will again when they have a different guard. How is this a good thing? This is not a case where there isn't a rule specified. This is simply a case of "I don't like the rule, so I won't follow it." Great light to shine on the community.

Keith, the one school with the sign was no longer a school, was for sale and has been in limbo for years. It is a slight risk detecting this out of the way abandoned school. A 'gray' area, but to me worth the risk of a guy asking me to leave.

At a in use 'old' school ground, I wait for summer when school is out and watch out for vehicles being there or not, usually no one is around this time of year, unless of course there is a teacher or
someone doing some summer time business. And if this so called 'guard' comes from out of no where and asks you to leave, I just agree, be polite, and just leave, after of course asking
him if he had watched the game last night....No real rules here where I live, one guy 'guard' might be like a state trooper, the next guy will ask if you've been finding much. It is just a personal
decision you have to make, at least around these parts.
Most of all be polite, fill plugs nicely, and talk a good game.....

 

[Geochem]

No they are not "private property". So in that sense, she had her vocabulary wrong. But while it may be "public property", yet the govt. can set up rules of usage. For example: A library may be "public property", yet they can set opening and closing hours. If you go in through a window at 2am at a closed library, you can be guilty of "trespassing" (yes, on public property). And all sorts of other "rules" for the public good, on public property (ie.: no dogs allowed, no alcohol, no motorized vehicles on the grass, etc...).

So here's what would happen if you challenged her usage of words: While you might successfully show her that it is public property, she could just turn around try to tell you that you're improperly using it (for whatever lame-*ss reason she wants to try to morph to apply to you). And then you just enter into a p*ssing match of whether or not you have really violated any usage rules. It may be entirely true that the school yards are not open to public usage. ie.: students only or whatever. Starting about 25 or 30 yrs. ago, fences started popping up at public schools all over the united states, with signs (that no one pays attention to BTW) stating something like "permission to pass revokable" or "check in at school office" or something like that. But there is usually still an always-propped open turn-style gate, and people still jog the track, play basketball, or whatever. In other words, the sign is there so they can shoo away perverts, or to keep from getting sued if you fall off the swingset and try to sue them (they can say "well you shouldn't have been there", etc...).

Most of the time you can still detect these schools till your heart's content, just as any other type after-school user seems to still do so. But as you know, detecting is an odd-ball hobby, that someone might think is damaging (perhaps she saw you in the middle of a retreival and didn't know you won't leave any traces). You can try to debate her on that point, but you know where that will probably go.

The best bet is to be more discreet, and go at more off-hours, and just avoid her shift in the future.

Very informative for someone new to holding a metal detector in hand and wanting to use it.

 

[kayakpat]

This keeps coming up and shows the fundamental misunderstanding of governments. Yes plural as we deal with different governments and jurisdictions. Because it is public owned does not mean you have any rights to it like YOU would personally owned it. A school IS private property it is owned by the school district as set up in your county , township, and state. I just mentioned 4 different governments who lie in a country governed by a 5th different government, the federal government. Each have different responsibilities and jurisdictions they must manage for a particular segment of the public...... We really need a civics class in school. Get permission, it is private property, you don't own it.