Public School Systems

[Billbrpt@AOL.COM]

Avery,

Here's a different take on your topic. Here, the Madison School district used 
to hire whichever "tooner" would "justoonem" (that's how they pronounce it up 
here) all in one day (after school) the cheapest.  That is, all the piano a 
particular school might have which might be 4-6, a full day's work that would 
begin at 3PM.  Of course, that "tooner" had already "tooned" 3 that day, so 
he still wanted to be done by 6 and he always was.

Nobody ever complained about any of the work, of course, and as far as 
anybody knew, all of the pianos were "properly taken care of".  So highly 
esteemed indeed, was the workmanship performed at these places of learning 
that as an indication of the quality of your credentials, you might have been 
asked if you tuned any of the pianos "for the schools".

Now, all of the pianos deteriorated (and not too slowly either) into a 
despicably horrendous condition until the music teacher would put in a 
requisition for a "new one" because the old one had "worn out".  The School 
district, being "penny-wise and pound foolish" as they often are, always had 
plenty of money for new pianos but was used to paying very little for 
maintenance and so they never did budget very much.

I used to refuse all school pianos for the above reasons until one day I got 
a call from the Fine Arts Administrator who said that now, there was only 
half the money they used to get for buying new pianos.  "What are we to do?", 
she asked.  To make a long story short, I got very handsome "consulting" fees 
for going around and evaluating each of the old pianos.  There were a few 
which were in really bad shape and needed to be discarded but most just 
needed usual maintenance.

Each one however, needed 2, 3, or 4 hours maintenance and they all got it, at 
full going rates, all of which added up to less than what they had to spend 
on new pianos.  They were very pleased.  From then on, they did buy new 
Yamaha P-22's, a few a year, not dozens, with complete Humidity Control 
Systems.  They all got the proper Service Bond treatment too.

Now, all of the system's pianos are in great shape, many get tuned 2-4 times 
during the Sept-May school year and they do well with the humidity control.  
(I had to put big, heavy duty power cords on them).  The school district now 
also has an approved list of RPT's that it hires from.  Although they are not 
legally bound by this, the teachers all call only the RPT's they have become 
comfortable with.  Somehow, I seem to get just about all of the business, I 
couldn't explain just how that came about. It is something they always say 
about a "more musical sound" or something like that.   

I would suggest writing a proposal that is realistic about both the needed 
amount of service, how much time it will take and at fees that are in line 
with the usual going rate, perhaps a little less, but not much.  You may not 
get the job, but if you don't, it will probably not have been worth it 
anyway.  Try to have a one-on-one with the principal administrator and use 
PTG promotional materials.  If they turn you down this time, try again next 
year.  They may have seen that your reasoning was sound by then.

Good luck,

Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin