Lost at School (11 page)

The Story Continues …

It had been one week since Joey’s suspension, and on the Friday before his return Mrs. Galvin called his reentry meeting to order. “As you know, we’re meeting to discuss Joey’s reentry into school on Monday.” Mrs. Woods, Ms. Lowell, and Mr. Middleton nodded. But there was a conspicuous absentee: Dr. Bridgman. Mrs. Galvin, who had a penchant for starting and ending meetings on time, found this irritating. Joey’s mother, whose trepidation about the meeting was tempered only by the hope that Dr. Bridgman would do a lot of the talking, was troubled, too.

Mrs. Galvin looked at her watch and made little effort to hide her annoyance. “I don’t know where Dr. Bridgman is. Hopefully, he’ll be here soon. The school psychologist writes the reentry plan, but it looks like we’re starting without him.”

“How is Joey doing?” Mr. Middleton asked Joey’s mother.

“About as well as can be expected, under the circumstances,” she sighed. “Mr. Middleton, I hope he didn’t hurt you badly.”

Mr. Middleton rubbed his jaw. “I must say, I can still feel it.”

“We think we will need a different plan in place for Joey to return to the classroom,” said Mrs. Galvin. “As you might imagine, Taylor’s parents want some reassurance that Joey is not going to threaten to kill their daughter again.”

“Look, I wasn’t there,” said Joey’s mom. “I didn’t see what happened. I’ve heard your version of what happened and I’ve heard Joey’s. I’m very sorry Mr. Middleton got hurt and that Joey pushed Mrs. Woods. I can understand Taylor’s parents being worried about their daughter’s safety. But based on what Joey’s told me, he doesn’t deserve all the blame for this.”

“We’re not trying to blame anyone, Ms. Lowell,” said Mrs. Galvin. “It’s just that according to our school discipline code, there are certain procedures that we need to adhere to when things like this happen.”

Ms. Lowell found herself unable to resist the opportunity for blunt honesty. “To tell you the truth, I’ve never noticed that the school discipline code has ever helped Joey.”

Mrs. Galvin was unfazed. “Well, be that as it may, we do have rules that all our students need to follow. We can’t send the message that Joey’s behavior was acceptable. He’s going to have to learn that he needs to follow the same rules as everyone else or he’ll continue to suffer the consequences.”

“Joey’s been suffering the consequences since preschool!” Ms. Lowell exclaimed. “He
knows
the rules. He feels bad about what happened. But consequences aren’t fixing the problem. From what Joey tells me, all of this started because he didn’t understand a social studies assignment.”

“From what I understand, Mrs. Woods wanted Joey to come up to her desk because he was disrupting her class,” said Mrs. Galvin. “He refused to come up to her desk. Mrs. Woods has twenty-six other students in her class, and she simply can’t have Joey interfering with the work of the other kids.”

“Don’t you think the way the problem
was
handled interfered with the work of the other kids? Mrs. Woods, nothing against you, but Joey said you embarrassed him in front of the class and that’s why he wouldn’t go up to your desk to talk to you.”

Mrs. Galvin jumped in before Mrs. Woods. “Embarrassed or not, Joey
needs to be held accountable for his actions. We can’t have Joey becoming aggressive and running out of the school just because he’s embarrassed or doesn’t understand an assignment.”

Mrs. Woods wasn’t eager to appear unappreciative of her principal’s support, but felt the need to speak for herself. “Well, now I … I’ve been thinking a lot about what happened. I think maybe there could have been a better way for me to handle things … you know, in hindsight. I just didn’t expect Joey to react that way.”

“Now, don’t go beating yourself up, Mrs. Woods,” said Mrs. Galvin. “Joey’s behavior was completely inappropriate. Ms. Lowell, we’re going to need your support to make sure this never happens again. That’s why we’re having this meeting.”

“Look, no offense, but I’ve been coming to these meetings and trying to be supportive for a long time, and all I ever hear about is what
I
need to do with Joey,” said Joey’s mother. “What else do you want me to do? I’m not here when he blows up! I just come get him after he’s been suspended.”

“Maybe you can tell us what you think would work,” said Mrs. Galvin.

“I don’t
know
what will work!” said Ms. Lowell. “Look, Joey’s no angel at home, either. He has his moments, believe me. And he’s had more than his share of punishment. It just doesn’t seem to affect him like it affects his brother. He’s different that way. So I don’t know what will work. I just know what you’ve been doing isn’t working. If it was working we wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”

“I hate to ask personal questions, but is Joey still angry about your divorce?” asked Mrs. Galvin. “Is that what this is really about?”

Ms. Lowell responded tersely, uncertain if she’d be able to contain herself. “Joey had trouble with his anger before the divorce. His anger is no better or worse now than it was before the divorce.”

“Is he looking for attention? Is it because he doesn’t see his father as much anymore?” pressed Mrs. Galvin.

“He sees his father plenty,” said Ms. Lowell. “And he did not do what he did the other day for attention! Hurting Mr. Middleton is not the kind of attention he’s looking for! Being suspended from school isn’t, either!”

“So what do you think it is? Why does he get so angry?” asked Mr. Middleton.

“I wish I knew,” said Ms. Lowell.

Suddenly the door to the meeting room flew open and Dr. Bridgman
barged in. “Sorry I’m late,” he said as he sat down, a little out of breath. “I had another meeting run long.”

“We were just discussing what might be causing Joey to feel so angry,” said Mrs. Galvin, looking up from her watch. “We were wondering if it’s related to his parents’ divorce.”

Dr. Bridgman was trying to find Joey’s file in his briefcase. “Oh, I don’t think that’s it at all.”

Mrs. Galvin appeared surprised by this statement. “Well, what do you think is causing him to be so angry?”

“I don’t know that I’d call him angry,” said Dr. Bridgman. “I did have a chance to meet with Joey and his mom a few days ago, so I was able to gather some information about the factors that set the stage for Joey to get upset.” He looked at Mrs. Woods. “But it would be very helpful if I could spend a little while talking with you as well, just to get a sense for what Joey looks like in the classroom.”

“That would be fine,” said Mrs. Woods.

“What kind of hypotheses do you have?” asked Mrs. Galvin, trying to hide her skepticism.

“Well, only some very tentative ones so far,” said Dr. Bridgman. “But I’ve heard that Joey is easily embarrassed in front of his classmates. Do you see that, too, Mrs. Woods?”

“Well, I … I guess so. I mean, that’s what I’m hearing,” said Mrs. Woods.

“And does he often appear confused about what to do on assignments?” asked Dr. Bridgman.

Mrs. Woods nodded. “Yes, that happens quite often.”

“This is all very interesting,” said Mrs. Galvin, “but how exactly is this information going to help us make sure that Joey doesn’t blow up again?”

“This information will help us understand
why
and
when
Joey blows up,” said Dr. Bridgman.

“Well, regardless of
why
and
when
he blows up, hopefully Joey has learned his lesson about what happens when he acts that way,” said the principal. “Maybe he’ll think twice before he does it again.”

“Actually, why and when Joey acts that way is really important,” said Dr. Bridgman. “See, I don’t think he wanted to act that way. I think he doesn’t have the skills to keep himself from acting that way … especially when he’s frustrated or embarrassed.”

Ms. Lowell couldn’t tell if the ensuing silence was related to Dr. Bridgman’s
contradiction of the principal or whether everyone was simply giving his words some thought.

Mr. Middleton broke the silence. “You’re saying that Joey didn’t mean to blow up?”

“That’s right,” said Dr. Bridgman.

“Then why’d he do it?” asked Mr. Middleton.

“My bet is that he couldn’t think of anything better to do,” said Dr. Bridgman.

More silence, this time broken by Mrs. Galvin. “We don’t have much time left. I’m wondering if maybe we should get on with our reentry plan.”

“Hard to come up with a plan unless we know what we’re trying to accomplish,” said Dr. Bridgman.

“We are trying to accomplish Joey’s coming back to school and not blowing up again,” said Mrs. Galvin. “I think it’s really quite simple.”

Dr. Bridgman shifted in his chair. “I don’t think it’s going to be so simple. Helping Joey not blow up again is going to take a lot of work. If we don’t put the work in, I predict he’ll just blow up again.”

Mr. Middleton rubbed his sore jaw. “Seems to me we’ve been working hard on Joey for a while now. We don’t have anything against hard work. But it sure would be nice to have something to show for it. What kind of work are you talking about, Dr. Bridgman?”

“Well, from what I can gather, the work that’s been done up until now has been for the purpose of giving Joey the incentive to do the right thing, mostly by punishing him when he does the wrong thing,” said Dr. Bridgman. “But if Joey doesn’t have the
skills
to do the right thing, well, all the incentives in the world won’t teach him the skills he lacks.”

“What skills?” asked Mr. Middleton.

“In Joey’s case, I’m not sure yet,” said Dr. Bridgman. “That’s why I want to meet with Mrs. Woods and”—he looked at Mrs. Woods—“I’m sorry, I forgot the name of the teacher you’re teamed with.”

“Mrs. Franco,” helped Mrs. Woods.

“Yes, Mrs. Franco … I’d like to meet with you both to get a better sense of the skills Joey’s lacking and the situations in which Joey is likely to run into trouble. Then we’ll have a much better sense of the work that needs to be done.”

“So we’re not having Joey sign a contract agreeing not to run out
of the school or threaten his classmates again?” asked Mrs. Galvin.

“Joey can’t agree to that right now,” said Dr. Bridgman. “It’s wishful thinking.”

“So what’s our reentry plan?” asked Mrs. Galvin.

“Well, once we have a handle on the skills Joey is lacking, we’ll understand why he responds to certain problems so poorly. And then we can start solving the problems and teaching the skills. After that, Joey should be in pretty good shape … and we won’t have to worry so much about him running out of school and threatening his classmates.”

Mrs. Galvin was undeterred. “And then we’ll have a reentry plan?”

“Oh, then we’ll have something much better than a reentry plan,” Dr. Bridgman reassured. “Then we’ll have a
staying in school
plan.”

Mrs. Woods usually looked forward to lunch with her colleagues. On most days, it was a chance to decompress and gather her thoughts, however briefly. She sat down next to Mrs. Franco and across from a seventh-grade teacher, Jerry Armstrong. Mr. Armstrong taught Joey’s brother, and was known for his definite views about the way schools should be run and discipline administered.

“Big meeting today?” asked Mr. Armstrong.

“Well, it certainly was an interesting meeting,” said Mrs. Woods, sitting down to eat.

“Joey’s mother behave herself?” asked Mr. Armstrong.

Mrs. Woods began unpacking her lunch. “She did fine.”

“Poor kid … can you imagine going home to
that
every day?” asked Mr. Armstrong. “And we’re supposed to pick up the pieces when the kid comes to school. Unbelievable.”

Mrs. Woods wasn’t in the mood to go toe-to-toe with Mr. Armstrong. The man had his point of view and she’d never seen anyone make a dent in it. Still, she was feeling some empathy for Joey’s mother, so, against her better judgment, she continued the dialogue. “What is it you think Joey’s going home to every day?”

“From what I’ve heard, that lady’s got a nasty temper,” said Mr. Armstrong. “Looks like the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” said Mrs. Woods. “She’s in a tough spot. Divorced, full-time job, two kids, one difficult. I’m not sure I’d handle all that with an even temper.”

“Well, a lot of us didn’t have it so easy ourselves,” said Mr. Armstrong. Here we go again, thought Mrs. Woods. “You can’t make excuses for these people,” Mr. Armstrong continued. “Bleeding hearts and pity parties don’t cut it where I come from.”

Mrs. Woods was now regretting heading down this path. “No, I suppose not.”

“He wouldn’t have pulled that garbage with me,” said Mr. Armstrong. “I’ll tell you what I would’ve done with him.”

Mrs. Franco laughed. “We know what you would’ve done with him.”

“I don’t think it’s funny,” said Mr. Armstrong. “If they’re going to throw these kids at us and expect us to fix everything their families have screwed up, we shouldn’t have our hands tied when they go nuts on us. You think a five-day suspension’s going to fix what’s broken about that kid?”

“No, actually, I don’t,” said Mrs. Woods.

“Well, me either,” said Mr. Armstrong. “That’s one messed-up boy. That kid shouldn’t even be in this school. He should be done for the year.”

“And how would that make anything any better when he shows up again next year?” asked Mrs. Franco.

“Look, in the real world—not this school, obviously, but the
real
world—there’s a price to be paid for acting that way,” said Mr. Armstrong. “In the
real
world they put kids like Joey away.”

“Away where?” asked Mrs. Franco.

“Wherever they put messed-up kids so they don’t screw up the learning of the other kids,” said Mr. Armstrong, packing up his belongings. “We’re not running a mental institution here.”

Mrs. Woods was delighted to see Mr. Armstrong preparing to leave. “Jerry, I just want to enjoy my lunch, if that’s OK. I appreciate your concern.”

“No problem,” said Mr. Armstrong, moving toward the door. “Let’s not think about it until he kills somebody.”

Mrs. Franco watched Mr. Armstrong leave the lounge. “Talk about broken records,” she said under her breath. “So how
was
the meeting?”