End of school year parties: Are there rental agreements in place?

May 9, 2022

The end of the school year brings joy to every student and teacher. Typically, districts host end-of-year celebrations that involve the use of rented amusement games. Parent organizations often cover the cost of the rented equipment, and as a standard practice, a representative of the parent organization signs the rental agreement.

Amusement game rental companies have rental agreement language that most schools don’t want to sign. The agreement transfers the risk from the rental company to the school. Sometimes the language is so specific that the school assumes the risk of the rental company’s negligence.

Our advice is to have a representative of the treasurers’ office sign all agreements on behalf of the school and forward the rental agreement to our risk managers for a quick review of the risk transfer language.

No one wants a day of celebration to turn into tragedy only to be made worse by fighting about who is responsible.

Questions? Contact an Ohio School Plan risk management representative for more information.