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Metal detecting illegal on high school grounds.....???

M

Marc-Montana

New member
Hi friends. I haven't posted on the forums for quite some time due to some health problems and the fact the ground was frozen solid as a rock.

Today I went to the larger of two high schools in my local town. I was happily digging my targets, and meticulously burying each of my holes. Two people rushed up on me from behind. I shut the detector off and put my digger and my propointer into my camo pouch.

The two people who rushed up on me were the custodian of the school and the vice principal. She was basically the only one who talked to me and said this: "You cannot be doing this on this property." I asked her: "Is this private property?" She replied: "No it is not, but I believe you are interfering with the education of our students." I said to her "Okay, I will just come here on the weekends." She said if I do that she would call the police and report me for "criminal trespassing." I replied to her that I wasn't aware that there was a law about metal detecting the high school. She told me there wasn't, but that she could have me removed from the property. I apologized for "interfering" with the education of her students.

Is what she told me legal? Could I face any type of charges for detecting on taxpayer funded property (public school)?

Should I avoid that property now, or should I try again?

Needless to say, I did find a .925 silver pendant. I won't be uploading any pics, sorry. I just don't feel up to it today....


Thanks and HH to all.
 
I do have one idea. Perhaps I could go there this summer. The worst thing is she said she's gonna call the local center that regulates the K-12th grade schools, and notify them of me. I wish these people would realize that removing metal objects from the ground aerates the soil and gives the grass roots more dirt to cling to than the metal they have to try to grow around :rant:
 
Oh well. If anyone has any opinions about it, please share. I just might go down to the local PD and ask them what their opinion is about the whole thing. I decided to break down and upload the pics of the item I found today. I found the .925 pendant, and $3.25 clad. Maybe St. Christopher was protecting me in some way today when I found his pendant? :blowup:
 
Nice pendant! I don't know what to tell you except that I probably would not try it again but that's probably not what you wanted to hear. Yes, we pay property taxes that fund education whether we have kids in school or not and I can see how that would give me the right to be there but they see it otherwise. Can she do anything about it? Yes, she can keep coming after you, call the police....etc. Is it legal, don't know. You may be on the right track with the police but they may not have a clue either and may tell you to stay away out of ignorance or they could say go for it. What you can do on school grounds in one school district may be prohibited in the next town over too. Are we hurting anything by detecting and digging? No, but there is a kill joy in every bunch. Anyway,sorry to hear about your experience, maybe other's will have better advice or some facts for you.
 
Thanks for the reply Habanero. I think I'm going to stay away from there for a long time. The custodian didn't say a word to me at all, and I sensed that he probably has a metal detector that's collecting dust in his garage. I just guessed by the look on his face that he seemed to have a little sympathy. :lol:

I think that I might try a few weeks after school gets out, but I'm going to be bringing someone with me to be a witness, just in case anything funny happens. There's a ton of parks out there to hunt, and it's just as good of excercise there.

That's the second time it's EVER happened to me. I've got to say it rattles the heck out of a guy's nerves when you get rushed like that. Hey at least I found the pendant, and she looked like she probably doesn't need to be bothered by someone like me, with the 3000 kids she has to deal with! :rofl:

:usaflag: :super:
 
I guess it just depends on the bylaws from city to city. When I hunt sports fields, I like to dress the part. I like to wear a set of sweats and a nice bright tee-shirt or golf shirt. When I hunt the inner city, I dress like I slept in my clothes for the a week. Often times, how you dress will decide whether someone will take notice on you or not.
 
Good point John. I actually picked a bad spot to hunt, being right near the front entrance of the school! I had the clothes part down pretty well with a dark sweatshirt and blue jeans, but I could've went out to hunt the sports field there without being noticed at all. I guess I still don't know everything about detecting in the towns yet. I've got lots left to do in the parks!
 
jarrow said:
I would say do not go during school hours lets try to keep a low profile.
Click to expand...

Aha! So that's where the headphones are most useful! :twodetecting:

I will be trying to keep a much lower profile in the future. Best way is when school's out for summer.
 
I don't know about where you live, but here the schools are not a city department and make their own rules. They often work with the local governments as far as they need too. I suggest you contact the superintendent. Make sure you emphasize the making it look, as much as you can, like you haven't been there. In parks and places where people care about what the grass looks like, I use a drop cloth. Actually a part of an old shower curtain. I remove the smallest plug I can, and the least amount of soil needed to get the object and place it on the cloth. After removing the object the soil is returned and the plug replaced.

If you explain it like that he may not have an objection and give you permission to return. I'd only return when the students are not around.

If he doesn't. move on.
 
[size=medium]logic dictates you don't hunt school grounds when school is in session. go to the schoo; district admin and get permission. if it's the main sports field they probly will say no to hunting it but the lesser fields aren't so well protected. you also should be mindful of what season it is. don't hunt practice fields on sat til late in the day.

HH[/size]
 
They defanatly will hasle you at the least now adays when hunting schools. Things and times have changed with schools.There security is very strict now and there generally off limits to the public except for parents and students.You might be able too on the weekends if theres open acess. You wana hunt try parks beaches public open baseball parks fields etc. Good luck and happy hunting.
 
Theres a poster here named Tom_In_Ca that is a fervent believer in being as invisible as one can be when detecting, his posts may prove useful to you...like John Edmonton said, gotta dress the part too...Its not a good idea at all to detect a school during class hours, or even in the evening during the week....even on the weekend you gotta go very early and get out of there very early as well...its also a good idea to not wear kneepads, or carry any kind of tool but your detector and a screwdriver, even still, keep it tucked up against your arm and out of sight...I dont go anywhere there are kids out playing, so again, hitting totlots or sportsfields is an early morning thing..i'm usually done and home by 10am..in the summer earlier than that..unless the weather is just awful and nobody is out, then I can stay and hunt. You'll be surprised how fast you can get with a screwdriver, its nothing to stab over 100 coins in a few hours or less..
Mud
 
Good advice MP. With the way things are right now, the folks at schools are understandably nervous about anyone roaming around on school property while school is in session. I haven't hunted a school in a good while but when I did, it was always early on Sunday mornings during the school year.
 
So your hunting in front of the school doors while class is in session! Are you kidding us! How about backing it down a little and try hunting on Sundays the earlier the better. Haven't you heard about the school shootings! These people are pretty jumpy with good reason. And here you come. We all got to use a little common sense.or were all going to get tossed.
 
Once she saw you were not some psycho bent on hurting or abducting children, she should have just asked you to detect when school was out. That's the trouble with little bitty people with a bellyful of self-importance, they go to the extreme in every way. Bureaucrats and common sense will never be the same thing. The massacre of twenty innocent children and 6 adult teachers was a horrific act, but nobody in the state or federal level is upset with nearly 60 million abortions.
 
Please don't feel offended with all the comments. You brought up a very good point, much worthy of discussion and probably saved a life or two also. Thanks for posting.....:thumbup:
 
What were u thinking mding a school while it was in session! You may have single handedly banned metal detecting at all schools in your area! Common sense is your friend.
 
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