Coach_Sampson,
It’s really sad that your story isn’t a rare one. Our district has 41 elementary schools, 9 middle schools, 9 high schools, and 5 alternative education schools spread out over about 100 sq miles. The powers to be decided it was more cost effective to have all of the landscaping services done by one shop with a minimum number of workers at some central location. Because of that, it’s literally impossible to get timely “special” services. About 120 miles down the road, there’s a city that decided every school would have its own landscape maintenance staff and equipment, and the difference is stark. The maintenance staffs actually have contests to see who can make their school look the best.
If the guys that control the purse strings don’t understand or don’t care that there’s a huge playability difference on an athletic field depending on how it’s maintained, and won’t allow the teams to do it themselves, there’s really no hope. All ya can do is to keep pluggin’ away and hopefully over time you can effect some changes. You have my best wishes for success.