Resetting iPad when Apple id unknown

You did actually read what I put or maybe I didn't put it clearly enough? The ipad was set up some time back and no one realised the importance of keeping a record of all the security stuff / Apple ID written down somewhere or maybe the person who did this has now moved on from the institution - it was early days of using ipads. The person who was using the iPad has now left the institution and is overseas and as far as known, uncontactable. In the past, you could do the USB plug in while connected to your computer and holding the Home key to completely wipe and reset the ipad. Now under iOS 7, as far as I know and can work out, there seems to be no way of doing this without the (unknown) Apple ID. I understand this is to prevent someone using a stolen iPad but there will be lots of situations where the Apple ID is lost so how do we get around this? It is no using the Forgot Password option as we don't know the email is sent to...

Thanks for your help.

Thanks for your further help Diane - much appreciated. The iPad has been reset by another member of the Institution. After setting the language and network password, it goes to the Activate iPad screen. It states that "This iPad is currently linked to an Apple iPad (a******@r*****.nz). Sign in with the Apple ID that was used to set up this iPad" - and this is quoted exactly as it appears. We don't know what this Apple ID is. It has a link under the Password entry point labelled Activitation Help and when you click on that, it states that "A password is required to activate this device because its owner has used Find My iPhone to link it to their Apple ID. If this is your device, enter the Apple ID and password you used to set up iCloud. If you were given this device or purchased it second-hand, you will need to contact the original owner to have them remove this device from their account."

Again, we don't know what the Apple ID is or the password. I can't find a way to get past this to download an App? We can't contact the person that set up Find my iPhone!