I always see highschoolers asking what tools to carry. Are the schools not providing basic
hand tools or at the very least letting students know what tools will be needed?
A lot of it has to do with diminished or non-existent budgets. Arts programs have been getting cut so drastically in a number of districts that they are unable to hire a competent and trained person to run the technical portions of these programs and spaces. The drama/English/music teacher that takes over so the students are at least exposed to the arts does not often know the full extent of what a
theatre should contain or they do not maintain it because at some
point students took it upon themselves to run the space and that's how it's been there since. When there is a void or gap in the students that want to Lear everything and truly care for the space things go down and the process is started anew.
In high school I was a part of a very excelled program and we had what I consider a great support from the administration for funding and having a dedicated staff for the space. However, that funding was eaten up quickly, too quickly to supply all the tools necessary. It always seemed that we were short that one basic tool when we needed it, but then we would need it for another year. Granted a lot of this was due to disorganization and misuse by some people, mostly accidental even, many came with the concept of "it's a tool I can
throw it around because that's what it was built for," as we all know, throwing a drill across the
stage and leaving a cordless battery to charge for weeks at a time (cheap chargers and drills especially) is a really bad idea if you want the tool to last.
I recently was working in 2 high schools and they both had a fairly new and nice building with what I would have considered phenomenal amounts of newer equipment back then. Both of them were not managed by anyone and the spaces were the pride of the schools but neither was adequately cared for mostly because the administration did not know how.
In one space they had a pile of lamp bases made up because they did not have anyone to fix them, they had no tools, no guidance, no experience. In the other their battens were all
dead hung and they had no means of doing anything other then projecting white light. They had no ladders, lifts, or scaffolding. When a lamp burned out they had to contract some one from the district to come in and replace it, I was told it took about 2-3 weeks to happen. They had few tools and were barely able to get buy on a technical standpoint. We were the first people to alter their
plot and use color ever, the administration had no idea anything we did was possible until he saw what we did (reportedly he is now pushing the board to find someone qualified to maintain the space, and I wish him luck).
Both of those examples were due to poor management, lack of knowledge, and funding that ran out before they could finish the job and get the space operational fully.