eng Science and Education Publishing American Journal of Educational Research 2327-6150 2025-11-21 13 11 491 497 10.12691/education-13-11-2 EDUCATION202513112 article Aminah Mukasa mukasabuyinza@gmail.com 1 Badru Musisi 1 Betty Akullu Ezati 1 Department of Foundations & Curriculum Studies, School of Education, College of Education & External Studies, Makerere University, Box 7062 Kampala Uganda The study explored power dynamics between for-profit secondary school proprietors and headteachers in managing school procurement, focusing on; identifying school suppliers, negotiating contracts, and making purchases. A qualitative case study design was used to collect data in six for-profit schools in Kampala Metropolitan. Two schools are patronized by high income families, two by medium income families, and two by low-income families. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews from 12 participant; one proprietor and one headteacher from each school. The study established that five out of six proprietors have exclusive powers to identify suppliers, negotiate terms, and make school purchases. The headteacher who does is confined to academics-related requirements. Besides, no school observes guidelines for school procurement, and instead, proprietors use their school ownership powers to usurp headteachers procurement duties. We recommend that government fortifies its inspection, supervisory, and advisory support mechanisms to ensure that proprietors comply with procurement guidelines for schools. https://pubs.sciepub.com/education/13/11/2/education-13-11-2.pdf School procurement management for-profit schools power dynamics school proprietors