“The First Assistant Vice Principal, John Turner, was quite old. He was an English teacher when David attended high school. So he knew David and Sarah personally. When asked about Kerry’s new alternative contact, he stated that he knew David to be a trustworthy man. He also spoke very highly of Sarah, having dealt with her many times. He knew that David and Sarah still lived in town, and he maintained that their influence would be a sobering one. Obviously he was not aware of Sarah’s opinion of Kerry, but his opinions carried a lot of weight with the School Authority Board. He then reminded the Board that David was the son of Ellen Larimore. He stated emphatically that there should be no objections to contacting the Larimores about Kerry if her mother so instructed. When it was pointed out that Sarah’s daughter Courtney Blaine was often in trouble, Mr. Turner stated that this had improved lately as far as he knew. When the School’s Counselor was asked about this, Florence Greeley confirmed that Courtney’s behavior had, in fact, improved, and her teachers had told her that Courtney was no longer absent from class. Mrs. Greeley added that she was now in contact with Courtney’s uncle about her situation at school. Mr. Turner confirmed this, and pointed out that her uncle was David Larimore. Then he took the position that Kerry had shown a habit of isolating herself from other students at school, so her friendship with Courtney actually represented an improvement. Two days later Ginny received a phone call from Mr. Turner informing her of the school’s decision to accept her instructions regarding contact with David Larimore. A note was made in Kerry’s conduct file. Conduct files were maintained in the School Counselor’s office
******************************************
“Wait a minute…didn’t the school abolish the dress code?”
“Well, that’s true. Against my recommendations!”
“I’m sure.”
“But! I still have the authority to determine whether Courtney’s…ah, I mean, a student’s, attire is likely to cause a disturbance.”
“What kind of disturbance?”
“It distracts the boys in her class.”
“Maybe you should call their parents.”
“I think not! But I don’t know if you’ve noticed…they’re also rather short.”
“The skirts?”
“Yes the skirts!”
“How short?”
“Well above the knee.”
There was a long moment of silence.
“Can I ask you a question, Mrs. Greeley?”
“Ah…I guess so.”
“Have you ever seen a flapper girl?”
“A what?”
“A flapper girl! Their skirts….”
“Mr. Larimore! This is a serious matter!”
“A serious matter? I’ll tell you something, Florence Greeley! If the dress code’s been abolished, then I don’t want to hear anymore about Courtney’s attire. Or the way she dresses either! If she starts wearing make-up on her knees…then you can call!”
There was a long moment of silence.
“Make-up on her knees?” Mrs. Greeley asked.
“Yes. I hope I’m clear! If you harass me again, I’ll complain to Larinda Mavis! She’s Deputy Assistant to 1rst Vice Principal Edna Potts! She knew my mother!”
There was another long period of silence.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Larimore, I just remembered that I have a …meeting…coming up.”
“Oh. Well I won’t keep you. Thanks for calling.”
“Thank you, Mr. Larimore.”
*****************************
Courtney knew who Kerry was because she sat behind her, but she had never spoken to her before. Mr. Callister sent Kerry to Mrs. Greeley several times for causing trouble in class. Two days ago, Courtney called Mr. Callister a “jerk off” for lecturing her about coming to class without having done her homework. Kerry burst out laughing, and Mr. Callister sent her to Mrs. Greeley. Then he told Courtney he would call her mother about her attitude. Courtney grinned at him. “Go ahead!” she told him. When he turned around to finish writing on the blackboard, she threw an eraser at him. He promptly sent her to Mrs. Greeley, and she blew him a kiss on the way out the door. Kerry and Courtney sat outside of Mrs. Greeley’s office without talking, although both would look over at each other once in awhile. Mrs. Greeley finally walked out of her office.
“I’ll see you now, Kerry Cooper! You’re next, Courtney Blaine!” Courtney looked up and grinned at her.
Florence Mae Greeley- Third School's Counselor
Following the sudden departure of Anita Lowery, Florence Greeley takes over as the School's Counselor of Westbridge High, having previously served as the Assistant First Co-Facilitator of Student Guidance and Occupational Counseling for Tenth Grade Girls. In that role, Mrs. Greeley clashed repeatedly with Anita Lowery, and Mrs. Mavis was impressed with Mrs. Greeley's tenacity. It is during her tenure that Courtney, Kerry, Lindsey, Tammy, and Nikki, not to mention Donna, attend the high school. Prior to Courtney and Donna moving into his house, David has no knowledge of Mrs. Greeley. But in the early days, Courtney is regularly bringing yellow Disciplinary Notices, slips of paper that documented violations of the School's Code of Conduct and Acceptable Student Behavior and Deportment, home to David. Later, Kerry will bring her Disciplinary Notices home to David as well. Mrs. Greeley, who ardently documents all violations of the Code in Student Conduct Files kept in her office, is particularly obsessed with a violation noted on the Disciplinary Notice as "Inappropriate Attire," which covers a whole host of rules governing the way students dress. These are also Courtney's favorite rules to break. Eventually, complaints from parents lead to the abolishing of certain components of Rule 7.c.6, the rule concerning the Girl's Non-Standard Attire provisions of the Code of Conduct, including 7.c.6a-2 that governed Appropriate Footwear, specifically designated as the "Appropriate Non-Standard Footwear Relative to Boots" rule. Unpopular sub-sections included the infamous "Prohibition against Footwear Extending Above the Ankle and Made of Leather- Black in Color," called the "Boring Boots Rule" by the students, specifically designated as 7.c.6a-16(d); not to mention 7.c.6a-27(k), the "Prohibition against Footwear Extending Above the Ankle and Closely Associated with Inappropriate Dancing," called the "No Go-Go Boots" rule by students. During subsequent meetings of the School Parents Select Committee on the Code of Conduct Provisions Relative to Student Dress and Attire- Girls, the All-Student Co-Educational Council, and the Westbridge High School Board of First and Second Vice Principals, rule 7.c.b-8, specifically designated as the "Prohibition against Footwear with a Heel Having a Height Exceeding One Inch," called the "No High Heels Rule" by the students, and Rule 7.c.6b-8(a), the "Prohibition against Footwear with a Circular Heel Tip," also called the "No Stilettos Rule," are rescinded. Two months later, Rule 7.c.2a-10, known as the "Acceptable Hemline Provisions" which included 7.c.2a-6(f), the "Prohibition against Hemlines of Less than 3 Inches Below the Knees Measured while in a Seated Position," called the "No Minis Rule," is expunged. This rule is crafted when Mrs. Greeley learned from teachers that during class male students seemed to drop their pencils on the floor far more often that their female counterparts. Then there was 7.c.6a-10(b), the "Prohibition against Skirts Made of Inappropriate Material- Leather," called the "Goody-Goody Skirts Rule" by disgruntled female students, which is tabled pending further review. Since Mrs. Greeley had written these provisions of the Code, she is somewhat bitter about the changes. Despite the abolishing, rescinding, expunging, and tabling pending further review, Mrs. Greeley continues to quote these provisions, couching them under the rubric of "advice and counseling." Although she can be inflexible when it comes to the rules and provisions of the Code, she becomes an important figure in effecting the change that leads to the transformation of Kerry's life.
******************************************
“So you are Mr. Cooper?”
“No. I’m David.”
She looked confused, and began flipping through the manila file folder sitting on her desk. For some reason, she hadn’t noticed the recent update attached to the inside of the file. Then she did.
“Oh, yes, here it is. Alternative contact; family friend.”
“That’s me,” David said with a smile.
She handed him a yellow Disciplinary Notice. David knew these well. Courtney would bring them home and give them to him. But they discussed the situation and eventually she stopped receiving them. When he was quite young, and Sarah walked him home from school, she would get the notices issued to him and lecture him the whole way home about following the rules. One day David told Sarah that he wouldn’t get in trouble anymore, which turned out to be mostly true. These notices had pre-printed disciplinary violations, and one would put an “X” in the box of whatever act of misbehaving was relevant. If the offence was not on the list, then it would be written in on the line marked “other.”
David glanced over it until he found it: “Being rude to teachers.”
David thought for a moment, and then looked up at Mrs. Greeley. He expected some black-and-white violation like “skipped class” or “caught smoking” or even “fighting after school.” But “being rude to teachers” he didn’t expect.
“How is she rude?” he asked.
Mrs. Greeley hesitated for a moment.
“How is she rude?” David repeated.
Mrs. Greeley paused to think. “Well, she talks back, and yells at them.”
“Maybe she’s not yelling at them, maybe she’s just a little loud.”
Mrs. Greeley looked at him. “I don’t think so! Besides, there are other things.”
“What other things?”
Mrs. Greeley hesitated again. “She doesn’t always pay attention.”
David leaned back in the chair. “Not paying attention is different from…” Mrs. Greeley cut him off.
“And sometimes she has a tone in her voice.” She was clearly becoming more and more annoyed with David.
“I see. Is it possible that she’s being misunderstood? Maybe she doesn’t mean to be rude. Maybe it’s just how she communicates.”
Mrs. Greely stared at him with a puzzled look on her face. “What?” she asked.
David looked intently at her. “Perhaps people aren’t trying to understand her.”
Mrs. Greeley closed her file and slammed her pencil down on the desk.
“Now listen, Mr. Cooper! I have lots of experience with young people. I know rude when I hear it! And Kerry is rude, you can take my word on that!”
David smiled. “Ok then. Kerry and I will talk about this.”