Chapter Sixty-Two: Rumor Mill

Chapter 62: Rumor Mill

After I left Prospect, for a while my email box was full with stories from my former coworkers. Since they all knew I was writing about the experience, often the subject line would read: “Here’s one for your journal.” Frequently the emails would detail the same incident from with different points of view. Here’s what I hear:

On the first day at Prospect without me, The Boss arrived late, at 8:40, with an entourage of “Enforcers”, several large and muscular Ebencorp employees from other residential programs. He gathered everyone in the parking lot and told the team he didn’t know I was going to resign and didn’t want me to do so, but he and his boss Clyde, felt I was not taking this program (note his word choice: program, not school!) in the direction Ebencorp wants it to go, thus he is taking over. At 3:30 he gathered all the students in the parking lot and tells the children too that he didn’t want me to leave. One of the girls reportedly yells “bullshit.”

The Boss then announced some changes effective immediately: no more blue jeans, no more Activity Period and no more Friday Career Days. (He later told the staff he didn’t like Career Days because he was not comfortable with the public “coming on campus and sticking their noses in our business.” Lynne wondered what he had to hide.) He also announced he is starting a new punishment program with both after school and Saturday detention sessions.

The Boss’s unveiling of his plan was interrupted by Tiombe, a student not known for self-control. He began to loudly vent his opinion with some profanity-laced statements regarding these changes. Immediately two Ebencorp Enforcers flanked Tiombe. One grabbed his shirt and spun him around. The other slammed him against the fence by the ball field then both “got in his face” and began to shout at him. The other students watched in stunned silence. The Boss went on to announce that he was shortening the school day. Prospect would no longer run from 9:00-4:00. The new school hours would be 9:00-2:50. The students didn’t cheer but the staff did.

Tiombe was the first but not the last. The following day as students were getting off the bus in the morning, The Boss decided, seemingly impulsively, that boys could no longer wear any earrings. When Antwonn stepped off the bus, The Boss had two Ebencorp Enforcers demand Antwonn give up his earrings. Antwonn protested saying it was written in the Prospect handbook that two stud earrings were acceptable. Antwonn then bent over his three ring binder to find that paragraph in the handbook. One of the Ebencorp men grabbed Antwonn’s arms and pulled them behind his back while the other started to shout very close to his face. Antwonn dropped his notebook. Counselor Rusty, witnessing this, interceded and said he would take Antwonn’s earrings whispering to Antwonn that he was right about the rule, but better to give the earrings to Rusty now than … Antwonn handed Rusty his earrings.

Maybe when The Boss said I didn’t follow the Ebencorp way it was because I didn’t physically intimidate the children….

Odis arrived at school wearing blue jeans. When the Ebencorp duo began to yell at him he said his mother was angry that the dress code was changing in the middle of the year and she had bought him new blue jeans for school. This made the Ebencorp Enforcers angrier and Odis received the Tiombe treatment complete with up close shouting and fence slamming. In addition he was kept after school. When The Boss called Odis’s mother, she said she had no car and couldn’t come get him. The Boss had to drive Odis home in his car and got lost (Odis claims he “was playing” with The Boss and provided incorrect directions.) Odis got home at 7:00 pm.

On Friday The Boss kept five children after school for detention and was surprised again when none of their parents could or would come pick them up and he had to spend hours transporting them to all corners of Herald County. Funny about The Boss driving the students home in his car since Ebencorp’s own policy states that transporting students in a personal vehicle should be avoided.

Although I am no longer principal, I made promises to some of the boys about attending their football games that weekend, so on Saturday morning, off to Berke Jungers I go. The first Prospect person I run into is Rusty. He tells me he resigned the day before. The Boss asked him to reconsider but Rusty refused. He didn’t give The Boss an explanation beyond saying it was for his health, but Rusty says he couldn’t stand by and watch the abuse.

Rusty and I watch several football games. When Parker sees me he waves and at the end of his game the sweaty equipment-laden boy gives me a big hug saying “We miss you Ms. Smee.”

My wonderful business manager, Lynne, emails me daily for some time:

Monday:
The Boss has decided he will take attendance himself since he wants the data before 10:00 am and feels our method is too slow. I think he isn’t used to a school with so many students! He first tried to take attendance as the children got off the busses. That didn’t work! He didn’t have a headcount for Shasta in time for her to pick up lunches and when she asked he got mad.

Tuesday:
The Boss told Rosie she is not a good teacher and she should look for work elsewhere and if she did he would write her a recommendation. Rosie cried.

The Boss left campus and returned with rakes, dozens of rakes. All day kids are out raking. There are no lessons, no counseling, just raking.

Wednesday:
The Boss told the team no more morning meetings and they don’t need to arrive to work at 8:00 anymore. He says “you can arrive whenever, just be here by 9:00.”

The Boss isn’t getting the attendance done until early afternoon and Henry’s secretary has been phoning saying they need me to input the attendance earlier. I explained about the “new” procedure…

Thursday:
Most of the team decided they still wanted to have morning meetings even if The Boss didn’t mandate them or chair them. They arrive at 8:00 and start the meeting, but when The Boss comes in (about 8:30) he tells them they are not to meet and he doesn’t want them coming into this portable because they disturb him.

That new math teacher you hired to replace Valerie called in sick. (That would be ZG, the zany guy.) The Boss called him at home and insisted he come to work right away, sick or not. Later I find a note taped to the door from the new math teacher – it is his resignation! The Boss told me we need to hire staff and I should put an advertisement in the local paper. I printed the text from one you and I developed but he crossed out the part about “college degree and teacher certification required.” He said to describe the job as “redirection.” I guess you don’t need a college degree to supervise raking.

Friday:
The Boss forgot to call the Career Day people on the list you gave him so they showed up this morning and he told them Career Days are cancelled. As far as I can see everything is cancelled. All the kids do is rake. Oh and The Boss suggested if they do a good job raking then teachers should show movies!

When I asked The Boss for the attendance today he told me he isn’t going to do it anymore and we’ll go back to the old way, but since we don’t have meetings anymore, none of the teachers know this and so no attendance was taken today. Oh and The Boss hired his first new employee today: Ernie! I started to tell The Boss about some of the Ernie problems but he told me Ernie is a big, muscular man and that you, Kathleen, just didn’t know how to handle him!

Monday:
The Boss has left Ernie in charge of the campus! Ernie is strutting around making up policies and threatening children. The kids rake and no one takes attendance.

Tuesday:
Rosie was trying to hold classes this morning. It’s hard since the girls would rather be raking. Ernie came in the class and decided to remove six girls for rake duty. They were happy to go. The Boss showed up on campus about 2:00 and told Rosie how pleased he was that she was starting to kick more girls out of class for misbehavior. Rosie told him she hadn’t kicked them out and she wasn’t sure why or how Ernie chose them for rake duty. The Boss looked disappointed.

Wednesday:
I gave my resignation to The Boss today. Now both my husband and I are unemployed but I just can’t take this anymore!