Cache at a School

[Lounge Fly]

I was out caching today and came across a cache placed on school property. Or possibly close to the edge of school property, regardless, in order to get to the cache, you need to traverse across the baseball fields to get there. I was there while baseball practice was going on, so I naturally felt really uneasy going to this thing. Luckily, I found a slight "backdoor" but it didn't completely block me from view. And even while searching for the cache, I could still see kids practicing, which means that if I could see them, they could see me.

 

I know that caches should not be placed on school property, but what should I do about it if anything? Should I let it be? Or should I alert the owner/state's volunteer for this cache?

[+eusty]

How old is the cache? If it's a fairly new one then it might be best to contact a reviewer...it may not have been obvious it was near a school.

[+6NoisyHikers]

Sometimes a cache is placed in the area of public green space adjacent to a school. Not illegal, but definitely awkward if there are kids around. However, if you think the cache might actually be on school property, you can send a private message to the reviewer and ask them to have a look at it.

 

I happen to have a young child that I carry with me in my caching bag as camouflage for just such occassions, but if there is ever a time you feel uncomfortable in searching for a cache, LISTEN TO YOUR INTUITION. Walk away, go home and do a bit of research, contact the CO, etc and find out what is really going on there. And I would state in my DNF log that I left because I was concerned about the location. If it's not a problem then the CO should state that in the cache description.

[+the4dirtydogs]

Funny this comes up. I went to a cache yesterday that was really close to a school so I left without searching. Went home and put a NA on the cache. I wrote my NA like this...This cache is way too close to a school. Lets see what the reveiwers think. The cache was archived a few hours later with a nice note from the reviewer.

[Lounge Fly]

I thought the cache was directly on school property as some of you suggested, so I contacted the volunteer for the state, and they deemed it was okay to keep it where it is.

Thanks for your help!

[+Mitragorz]

I don't know how it is in other areas, but by me, the fields/playgrounds/tennis courts of the public schools are open to the community outside of school hours ("community" being residents of the town). So if there was a cache near (not on) school property, I'd probably use judgement and try to get it when school is out.

 

I don't think that a cache being "too close" to a school is grounds for an archival, but I do think it means that the finder has to use discretion and common sense when retrieving it.

[knowschad]

It also depends (according to one reviewer that I've dealt with, at any rate) on the level of the school. It also could be that there was explicit permission given for that hide (although I think I'd still either skip it, or do it on a weekend or summer vacation)