Public School Systems

[Avery Todd]

List,

    I was asked today about a school system in the Houston area that wanted
to start a program to have their pianos tuned and "repaired", i.e. whatever was
needed. They're not looking necessarily for "cheap". They just want to know
what would be reasonable.
    They have app. 250 pianos and they wanted to know if $12,000.00 a year was
unreasonable. Of course, for that many pianos you can imagine what I said. 
:-) Two
tunings a year would be almost double that figure!
    But what "would" be reasonable, both for them and for the tuner? As far 
as I'm
concerned, $40.00 per piano, twice a year, would be rock bottom. Plus extra
tunings for Christmas concerts and end of year concerts. Plus the cost of
repairs/rebuilding work. But what would be a reasonable way for them to budget
the cost of this type of thing? To decide how "much" money to budget?
    Any help/suggestions that I can pass on to them would be greatly 
appreciated.
I've tuned for school systems before, but never one of this magnitutude.
    Thanks for any help you can give.

Avery

Avery Todd, RPT
University of Houston
Houston, TX