I would definitely get the schools lawyers on the installers case. I'm pretty sure that by law they cannot withhold the password legally as you completely own the equipment and you have a right to all information regarding said equipment. The installer is most likely withholding said password to force you to use their business which is basically forcing a monopoly in regards to who you choose to do your A/V work.
Unfortunately, some firms do indeed use this approach for that exact reason. However, there are also totally legitimate reasons especially since you may not have any rights to the actual program file.
Most likely once you get lawyers involved they will fork over the password without a fight as they would definitely lose any legal battle that would ensue. If the equipment was leased or rented from them then it would be another story as they still technically own the equipment, but because you own and paid for the equipment in full you are privy to any and all information regarding that equipment.
Actually, unless their Contract specifically states a requirement to provide such information, the Contractor would likely win quite easily. A simple analogy would be that you bought a computer and some software, in this case the
DSP box and the manufacturer's programming software, but that is different than buying a file created with that software, the actual project program file, and even buying that would again be different than buying the ability to own, modify, distribute, copy,
etc. that file. So the issue is what was bought; a box and software for it that allows you to create files, a box with a loaded program file to provide some defined functionality or a box, software and all rights to the file itself?
The critical issue is really what was contracted. If the responsibility is to deliver a working
system, there is no requirement in the Contract Documents to turn over files or passwords and a working
system is delivered, then the Contractor has a very strong case that they have fulfilled their obligation without providing any passwords. They also have every right to protect their work and that can include password protecting access to programs they created as part of the work and as allowed by the Contract. As already noted, in most cases nothing prevents you from resetting and reprogramming the device using the manufacturer's programming software but at the same time, unless defined otherwise, nothing prohibits or is inherently wrong with the Contractor password protecting the program they wrote for that project. If you want actual copies of any programming, passwords,
etc., then that expectation needs to be clearly defined in the related Contract, without that there is little legal basis to demand it.
In doing so realize that what is at issue here is typically a component of a
system. The Contractor is usually contracted to deliver a
system with certain functionality and performance and they are liable for providing what is contracted, including any device programming necessary to meet the Contract requirements for the overall work. However, any modifications to the Contractor's work, including that programming, potentially releases them from their obligations, they can no longer control the results and thus cannot be responsible for them. In the case of schools, you may be fine with that in regards to modifying the programs used by programmable devices but the Administration may have differing views, at least for new
system still under warranty, and they are the ones writing the Contracts.
The long term aspect is a little different and I believe that it is a good idea to ask for a copy of the programming or code and any passwords in order to support reloading the original programming in the case of equipment failure, having a copy should the Contractor lose theirs or cease operations, having a copy that can be modified to support any related equipment changes in the future,
etc. But be careful of asking for full access or 'ownership' as those can be seen to indicate an intent to reuse or modify the programming, as well as potentially limiting the ability to use the programming or any elements of it in the future, and the Contractors will potentially have to
address that possibility in the form of lesser work or higher costs.
The idea of allowing passwords and/or files to be withheld until the
system warranty expires is an interesting one. It does avoid many of the potential issues, however there is a risk should something happen to the Contractor or the information prior to receiving all the program files and passwords. It also gets messier if there is an option for an extended warranty and how that affects this would have to be addressed as part of such an extension.