Replies

1. 
   cussnu2 | Oct 28, 2015 01:22pm | #1

   #1 What liabilty would you have in the first place?  You are an employee of the district as are the maintenance personell.  You are performing the job at the direction of the district so the liablity is theirs in both cases.  You can obviously be sued by anyone for anything at anytime but unless you do something completely contrary to the directions of your employer, you likely won't be held personally liable for even your negligence. 

   #2 are you part of a union workforce?

   #3 have you checked you professional liability coverage with your union to see what it covers for shop teachers working on projects?

   Rather than worrying about liability waivers which lawyers can blow through quickly, (Lets say you get your waiver signed and the maintenance crew is grossly negligent in one area of construction - so much so that any reasonably proficient professional would readily see it and you perform work on the structure subsequently, do you really think pulling out a piece of paper and pointing at the maintenance crew as the ones who did said work is going to absolve you of responsibility?  It won't, lawyers will brush that aside quicker than you can blink and attach liability to you as the professional you hold yourself out to be for not recognizing and correcting the problem regardless of who created it.)

   I would be more concerned about what insurance coverage you have in place through the district and your union.  And I would be concerned that the district recognize that you are performing this function as an employee of the district at their direction.  THAT I would want in writing.  If something goes wrong they MIGHT try to hang you out to dry saying you were a volunteer as well on your own time.  If its clearly understood you are acting as their employee you are in a much better position from a liability standpoint.