LINDA'S NEW SCHOOL

BY JOREYMAY

[ part 22 ]

Meeting

Miss James, and most of the faculty and staff, was aware of what had happened at the Board meeting. And before it. They also knew that it was traditional for a new chairman of the Board to address the faculty and staff the day after being elected to that post. Therefore, there was a special meeting scheduled for the purpose. Later, there would be an Assembly so that the students could be informed of the new leadership.

When Linda entered the room for the meeting, she did so in her power suit. There were some raised eyebrows over that, and some frank expressions of disapproval. She moved to the head of the table and stood beside Miss James, waiting for her formal introduction.

"Ladies, may I have your attention please? It is my duty and honour to introduce the new Chairman of the Board of Governors, the first female to hold that post in the history of this school, Miss Linda Magnesson." She then led the ritual applause.

"I will now turn this meeting over to her."

"Thank you, Miss James. Ladies. First, we must be clear on one point. I am addressing you today as the chairman, not as a student of this school. That fact is reflected in my mode of dress. Your reactions to seeing me dressed this way, while understandable, are inappropriate. Over the next few months, we will be having more such meetings. This mode of dress will serve as a reminder of the function I am serving."

"There will be many changes over the next few months. The primary change will be to the mission of this facility. This will no longer be a place where girls are sent to be broken and humiliated. Instead, it will be our duty to teach these girls respect and strength. They will learn to respect themselves, first and foremost. Beyond that, they will learn to respect their families and their society. We will be creating generations of leaders, instead of cringing servants."

"There will be many changes to the procedures and even the staffing of this school. Those of you who are unsuited to the new mission of the school will find your roles changed. I will say more about that in a moment."

"I came here to investigate this school, and I did. I was shocked and disappointed at what I found. Not about the sadism and sexual humiliation - I was warned about them." Her audience looked at each other with concern and some confusion. "I was most disappointed at how lazy and complacent you have become. For a school that prides itself at turning out students, those who survive, with high academic skill and achievement, you have shown a stunning lack of creativity and flexibility. I might expect that of the sadists, but even the best of you are in a rut. Someone acts out, you strip her and humiliate her. Someone seems undermotivated, strip her and humiliate her. Someone doesn't learn the day's lesson, strip her and humiliate her. Things get worse, or she stands up for herself, strip her, humiliate her, and beat her. The most creative ones are the sadists, and they are only creative in finding new excuses for their abuses. And even they are in a rut."

"Thousands of teachers maintain discipline, even rigid, effective discipline of otherwise unruly students, without the least hint of nudity or violence. They vary their measures to suit the individual student. Even in a Borstall they do so, and that with the kinds of girls you routinely turn away. If you are going to stay here, you are going to have to be able to do the same. I can tell you here and now, nudity and physical violence will no longer be accepted as disciplinary measures here. At least, not when applied to the students. And other forms of humiliation are largely incompatible with the new mission of the school. If you are so hidebound that you cannot teach under these conditions, then you have no business teaching here."

"I will be proposing a few tools for your use. The *real* educators among you will come up with many more. And will undoubtedly continue to do so for the rest of their tenure here. We will expect nothing less."

"I have made several references to the fact that some of you may not wish to continue in your positions here, and that some may not be allowed to continue. That is not as simple a matter as it may seem. To put it bluntly, most of you know too much to be allowed to leave freely and easily. It could become *very* unhealthy to make yourself seem a threat to the powerful and well connected people among the parents of our students, and among my fellow Governors. Therefore, over the next few weeks Miss James and I will be meeting with each of you to discuss your options regarding continuing employment or severance. I need not remind you that any one of you could be charged with many counts of sexually abusing these girls, under our current laws. And I should not have to describe the probable consequences if you should threaten, or even hint at, using what you know about these people to the detriment of any of our students, their parents, or the backers of this school. If you do as we say, most of you have a good chance of getting through this with your careers, and your very skins, intact."

"There will be a number of changes to the way we do things here. For liability reasons, we are doing away with the shared towels. This will increase the work of the shower monitors and the laundry. There will also be some changes to the uniforms. Some of you will have some input into that process. There will also be significant changes to the ancillary products which have traditionally come from this institution. Those will be discussed under more appropriate circumstances." She indicated the conspicuous camera and microphone which were capturing her address for the traditional recording.

"The next few weeks will almost certainly be difficult for many of you. But it is not acceptable or appropriate for you to take that difficulty out on our charges. Keep your heads, and you are more likely to do so over the long run. We will be counting on your best efforts throughout this transition."

"Thank you for your attention. I will be keeping regular hours in my office, during which you can bring your issues and concerns for discussion. And, of course, Miss James will retain her responsibilities and will continue to be available to you. Again, thank you."

With that, she sat down. She nodded at the woman from the monitor room, who then shut down the camera and microphone and packed them away. As she was doing that, Linda was sipping her water and going over what she was going to say next.

"Alright, ladies. The public part of the meeting is over. Now it is dirty little secret time. You are all aware that videos of many disciplinary sessions and other events have routinely found their way into the hands of some of our supporters. Men, and some women, with some fairly specific tastes in entertainment. I have temporarily put a stop to this for a number of reasons, but they will resume in modified form. Certain events will be carefully staged for the cameras, and used for that purpose. There will be some changes even then. And after recent events, we have an opportunity to reach a new, powerful audience. Many of our alumni, and the siblings and other relatives of some of our failures, would pay dearly for videos of certain of you receiving what you have so enthusiastically given out. A select few have seen the recording of the disciplinary action of a few days ago, and it was very well received. Unlike that one, and the past events involving our students, these new recordings will be carefully staged in a way which, while painful, will preclude the likelihood of significant injury. For some of you, participation in these videos will not be entirely voluntary."

"The staged, old-style disciplinary actions involving students will be limited to those who are of age, and who freely agree to participate. Specifics about those events will be addressed at another time. I will welcome suggestions for such scenes, and for other kinds of video products."

She went on to discuss other changes and issues, partly for the people there, and partly for the audience hidden in the woods and beyond. She would have a meeting with them later that day, under more comfortable circumstances than their earlier meeting.

Before that, she would address the students at the Special Assembly. She would draw a firm distinction between Linda the student, and Miss Magnesson, Chairman of the Board of Governors. Unlike the staff meeting, most of what she would tell the students was good news from their point of view.

All told, it had been an interesting and educational exercise of power. Her only question now was what to conquer next. "Today, Sands. Tomorrow, the world" was not really specific enough for her tastes.