if a school comes to us to produce something for them using their logo, yes we will do whatever is necessary to finish the job, not all schools have a clean vector file of their mascot believe it or not
the school here just switched to a new logo a few years ago since the last one was before the computer age and was photocopied to death and was nowhere near the original hand painted and adopted logo, we actually get calls all the time for logos as we are known to have worked with almost everyone in the area and most likely have a clean version of whoevers logo they are looking for
its not all cut and dry piracy in these cases, as for the OP, i totally get the idea of the city looking to do something with the schools name and not have the logo, when asked you often get a gif off the website, so seeking a good place to recreate it is standard practice sometimes.
Okay, I totally understand your reasoning........ if you have permission to do so. However, that's where it ends. Just some teacher, office manager, or someone in the school district cannot just go out and get something made without written permission. It's a kinda checks and balances system in place, so people don't get things made without the schools knowledge of it. It's the same in all schools from my understanding.
THEN, you cross over to doing sports related projects...... and it gets even harder.
These schools, along with sports teams and such are very protective of their name and how it's used and who it's associated with. Even if a Principal of a school asked me to do it,
which has happened, I make sure all the information is in writing and I have signatures. Far too many bootleggers are doing this stuff for their kids teams and skirting around the rules. If you think I'm making this up, think again. I'm not trying to be a bummer.... it happens to be the truth. It's the same as using franchise logos, sports teams, City crests and other copyrighted material. It's not free for the taking, just cause you know how to do it. Once you establish a relationship with a school or some other group needing this written consent, you're pretty much good to go..... but not until you have complete clearance.
Do you know how many school mom's/dad's have asked for their kids school emblem to become a bumper decal or window sticker ?? Like you said, it's easy-peasy to duplicate, but not on the books.
edit: now the OP has said he is working directly through the school and I'm sure he has all the 'i's dotted and 't's crossed, or he could get into a lota trouble. Should he do any work for a parent or plain teacher without proper paperwork, his/her a$$ would be in a whole heapa trouble.