Chapter 21: The Program Starts. Again

At the OSA headquarters office in early August, Ross Gerberin stopped into William Garcy’s office. Garcy was his counterpart in the agency, Gerberin being the compliance director and Garcy, the school operations director.

“Hey, Bill,” Gerberin greeted Garcy, “got something you can do for Enforcement.”

“Hi. Heard they dropped your kidnapping charge. That was good news. So what’s up?”

“Yeah, my charge was dropped. Since I never told the agents to take those kids into custody, they couldn’t call me an accomplice. But that DA is really pushing to get my agents convicted, like she did to the four agents involved in last year’s nudist park attempted detainment. Well, I want those two kids to pay for our difficulties with that county. They did serious medical damage to my men and it’s likely that their appeal of their conviction won’t work. The Program starts at those two kids’ high school this fall term and I want you to arrange to put them into the Program for a month, Bill.”

“Their school records have declarations of religious exemption, Ross. We can’t do that, plus they have no Program infractions to justify a Program punishment.”

“Fuck that, Bill. Have your coordinator there—what’s his name, Werthur?”

“Don Werthur, right.”

“Just have him get rid of those declarations. Besides, religious exemptions aren’t accepted in this area—it’s not like over there in central Pennsylvania. And infractions? They failed to participate in their former school when they were selected, and then, in their interviews with my agents, they failed to respond to the questioning. Those actions of theirs call for a strong punishment. So on the first day of school, have Werthur put them in the Program. And if they resist, I’ll have enforcers standing by.”

“Let me check ... okay, the first day of school is August 25 but the first Program week isn’t scheduled until September 12. That’s when the Program begins at that school.”

“No matter; this is a punishment participation. It’s to be all month, to the end of September.”

“All right, then. On your authority?” Gerberin nodded. “Send me a written request and I’ll let Werthur know.”

“Thanks, Bill. I’ll send you the memo.”

He left the office.

The second Monday of August brought the dreaded, but expected notice from the school that the Program was to begin on the second Monday of September. As had occurred in prior years, the Ritters were spending two weeks plus at Pine View, while Drew and Connor stayed home; soccer tryouts and team practices began on that same Monday. In each student’s orientation packet, there was a welcome letter from the principal, schedules of various types, club and sports notices, drama and band performance details, and parents’ information about the Program.

“Looks like the same kind of stuff about the Program that they sent back at Etown, sweetie,” Drew said as they looked the papers over. “Nothing about any Program assembly. Call kids’ names during home room after Period 1, just like we figured. Random selections and ... interesting ... not twenty seniors each week, it’s twenty-four. Ten juniors and six each sophs and fresh. Forty-six kids. That’s, um, like fifty in 2500 is 2 percent. Two out of every hundred kids naked. They’d all be targets for damned sure.”

“So true. They’d stand out for sure.”

“I’m so glad we’re gonna do the Project, we’ll get maybe thirty to forty naked kids per hundred, judging by Sherrill’s latest numbers.”

“I hope it goes up to half—maybe when the rest see what’s happening, they’ll join in. And here’s a consent form and a waiver of liability too; looks very similar to the ones from Etown. Hey, let me call Jay and see what he thinks of this waiver.”

Jay wasn’t impressed.

“I strongly advise not signing anything. Waivers like that are extremely common, but that doesn’t mean that the courts like them. For schools, the officials have a duty to students to provide a safe environment, so if it turns out that an injury resulted from the failure to properly supervise students, then the parents can sue regardless of the existence of a signed waiver. But why take that chance?

“There’s an additional factor here in Maryland too. State law maintains that such waivers can be invalid if one party has grossly unequal bargaining power over another, which is certainly the case of a school over a student. Maryland courts have ruled that waivers like that—they’re actually contracts—would put the weaker party at the mercy of the stronger one’s negligence.

“Also in this state, courts have ruled that since parents have the responsibility to make decisions pertaining to their children’s welfare, decisions which are supposed to be in the child’s best interest, the existence of a signed liability waiver might not prevent a parent from recovering damages in a lawsuit. Parents must make decisions on behalf of their children in areas including health, education, and religion, and these particular waivers could prevent the parent from protecting their child’s interest in the first two of those areas. So no, don’t sign them. There’s no penalty or limitation attached to school participation if they’re unsigned, like sports participation waivers. Unless those are signed, the child can’t play. Long-winded explanation, right? That’s a lawyer for you. But you got the message.”

“Sure did. Thanks, Jay. Say, you guys going to the resort this coming weekend?” Connor asked.

“I’ll be there; Delia’s there with Wilma and Tracy this week but I had to be in the office.”

Connor texted Frantz about the Program waiver forms and Jay’s response and told him that he and Drew would bring them out that weekend.

Soccer tryouts were done and practice had begun and Drew and Connor once again got caught up in their team activities. Connor had developed and adapted a number of agility exercises which were becoming very popular with the team because he had set them to several current popular music tracks. And he was leading the team members in strength and endurance drills too.

Drew, now reconnected with the junior and senior members of the girls’ team, with whom she had scrimmaged with at the resort early in the summer, was learning the team’s set plays and working out with them. She had noticed that, for the current season, only one sophomore had made the varsity cut, so she reserved extra time to work with the JV girls to try to improve their skills so some could move up to varsity next season.

There were two non-league scrimmages set for the week before school began; the second was on Saturday, so Drew and Connor didn’t go to the resort that weekend. School would begin in several days.

Tuesday arrived, the first day of school. The day would be sunny and a little cool, a sign of fall’s approach. Perfect riding weather, but the trip to the school was quite short. The teens headed out to the motorcycle.

“Well, off to school, first day,” Connor said as he rolled out the bike. “Great perks, being an athlete and a senior. Got really convenient lockers too, one in the school and one at the field house gym, and our class schedules are set to allow practices and games.”

“I like what you’re doing with your conditioning program, sweetie. You learned some good stuff doing the soccer camp and the agility drills you put together are really clever.”

“Yeah. Work well with a large group too. Okay, let’s go.”

Connor parked the motorcycle in the motorcycle area of the student parking lot and he and Drew hopped off.

“It’s interesting to see that a fair number of kids here ride their bikes to school,” Connor observed, looking around at the other parked bikes. “Let’s store our riding gear in our school lockers instead of stuffing everything into the trunk and saddle bags.”

“Okay, good idea. First day, new school,” Drew said. “At least we spent a day last spring going around to classes here. And I’m thrilled at the size of the Project now. The texting tree has almost 900 members! I hope that they all will get nude when the time comes.”

“Sherrill says that she’s sure that they will. Damn, she’s really become a great field commander. And Wilma is a good tactician. And you, Drew, you’re our strategist.”

“And you, sweetie? Where do you fit in?”

Connor laughed. “Foot soldier,” he responded.

“No, shock troops, more like,” Drew chuckled.

They went into the school and stored their gear in their lockers, then went off to their first period class. Ten minutes into the class, Drew and Connor were paged over the PA system.

“Drew Harper, Connor Martin, please come to the school office.”

Connor looked at Drew. “Wonder what that’s all about?”

“Dunno, but I have a bad feeling,” Drew muttered. “Get premonitions. I think it’s why my soccer sense is so good. I can sense some things about to happen.”

When they arrived at the office, a man was waiting there behind the counter.

When they entered, he went to the counter and asked, “Harper and Martin? Are you the ones we paged?”

“And who might you be?” Drew asked. “Why were we paged?”

“I want you to follow me to my office...” he began, but Drew stopped him.

“I don’t know you. I know the principal, my assistant principal, and my counselor. I don’t know who you are.”

“I see that you’re going to be difficult, miss. I’m Mr Werthur and the federal Program coordinator. Now I insist that you come with me.”

Connor spoke up. “Not on your life, mister. We’ll have nothing to do with you and your Program.”

“I insist, kid; I can make your life very difficult...”

Their voices had been getting louder and that brought the principal, Dr Petersmith, out of her office.

“What’s this disturbance ... oh, I remember you ... Drew, is it? Coach Adcock showed me some videos of your soccer playing. I’m looking forward to seeing you play for the Gophers. Now, what’s this commotion about?”

Before Werthur could reply, Drew said, “This person had us paged. Now he told us to go to his office, that he’s a Program official. We have religious exemptions and won’t have anything to do with Program people.”

Petersmith turned to Werthur. “Explain yourself, Mr Werthur.”

“Ah, it’s a private matter. Can we go...”

“No. Right here. Explain.”

“OSA national has determined that these two students are Program violators and must be punished by spending a month in the Program. I ordered them to follow me to my office where they are to strip and begin their punishment.”

Drew and Connor reacted, “No way!”... “Absolutely not!”

Drew went on, “We have religious exemptions from the Program. The declarations are in our file, forwarded here from our last school.”

“There is no such declaration in either of your files,” Werthur said.

Connor stared at him. “Our guardian has date-stamped copies of all of our transferred school records and that exemption declaration is included in her copies. If the school copy is missing, I accuse you of tampering with school records. Dr Petersmith, isn’t that a crime? Okay. Drew and I will write out another declaration right here and sign it. Under the First Amendment, we have the right to freely observe our religious principles.”

“Maybe you did in Pennsylvania, kid. That doesn’t fly here,” Werthur stated. “Now, the federal rules state that the principal has no authority over Program punishment matters, so if you refuse to come with me, strip, and begin your punishment, I’ll call in our enforcement people and they’ll see that you comply.”

“I’ll need to see you in my office, Mr Werthur,” Petersmith said coldly. “Right now. There will be absolutely NO enforcement of any federal rule that says that I have less than full authority in my school, understand?”

“C’mon, Drew, let the turd stew in his own shit, sorry for the language, Dr Petersmith, but I’ve had it with these cretins. This isn’t the first time they’ve caused a problem for us. We’re going back to class now. Let’s go, honey.”

On the way back, Connor told Drew, “We’ll stop at the lockers, sweetie, and get the riding leathers. If enforcers come, they’ll probably have their usual Tasers. When I got hit last time, I noticed that the dart part was less than a half-inch long. It’s long enough to go through most clothes, and even if the point comes close to the skin, I read that it can still disable. I did get a jolt through the leathers and hoodie when I got hit. Let me run out to the bike and get our padded riding gear. We’ll wear that under the leathers. That should be plenty thick to stop the darts. While I’m getting the gear, call Jay and tell him what’s happening here.”

The enforcers showed up at their classroom at just after 1 p.m., during Period 3. Two men entered the classroom and asked for Drew and Connor. The teacher indicated them.

“Miss Hampton, those are criminals and we’re not going anywhere,” Connor said.

Kids in the classroom gasped at that and the teacher asked, “What do you mean, criminals?”

“They’re attempting to take us without our consent. Kidnapping’s a felony, last I heard. These jerks are so-called Program enforcers for the Naked in School Program,” Drew responded.

That caused a commotion in the classroom and the teacher told the two men that they must leave the classroom; she’d call the police resource officer if they didn’t leave. They left.

“What’s happening, Miss Hampton, is that the Program official at the school here told us this morning that he’s punishing us for not participating in the Program in our last school, where we had an exemption,” Connor explained. “What they’re doing now is so illegal that it’s mind-boggling. Thanks for sending them out.”

“Okay, Connor. But I’m certain that they’ll be waiting for you after class,” she said and he acknowledged that.

They were waiting; the teens could see them watching the classroom door, so they crouched down and slipped out under the cover of a group of kids who shielded them from view. And the halls were so crowded with rushing kids that Connor and Drew were able to evade the two men and got to their fourth period class unchallenged. There, they told that teacher about the enforcers and he said that he’d kick them out if they came into the room.

“We’ll have the showdown out at the parking lot, most likely,” Connor told Drew. “They’re probably gonna watch for us at the student parking lot. Hey, since the football team has practice after school; let’s go there instead.”