Chapter 3

ARDITH JOINED the Enders family for Sunday dinner and to present Dennis with his new smartphone. She’d already activated the SIM and put her own number and that of each of the Armor girls into the directory. He immediately sent her a text that said, “Thank you.” It seemed that even if they’d never had one, this generation automatically knew how to use a smartphone.

“There’s enough data bandwidth on it to send a few photos or use GPS to get us to a game,” she explained. “There probably isn’t enough bandwidth for you to watch movies or listen to much music. But listen carefully to this. It is school property and not personal property. Make sure you follow the rules regarding allowed content. Sending and receiving nude photos or sexting, for example, is strictly forbidden. Not that I think that is something you would do, but you need to know that online bullying is the same in my book as in-person bullying. Be mindful.”

“Yes, ma’am. I will,” he answered politely.

“This seems like a lot more than his previous coach was willing to do,” Will said. “Why are you providing this kind of benefit?”

“I met Coach Rogers and have to say I didn’t like him. I don’t think he really cared about either the game or his players,” Ardith explained. “He was so shallow-thinking that I doubt he ever considered whether his team manager could communicate with the team. If you’ve read the job description I gave Dennis, you know that he will often be required to contact me or our players. In today’s world, I consider a cellphone to be a requirement of nearly any job. Since it’s a job requirement, I felt the school should pay for it. There aren’t really any other benefits.” She laughed at that and the family joined her. Margaret laughed loudest, though it was doubtful that she understood the joke.

The truth was, Ardith didn’t know if the school would cover the expense or not. She’d made the decision and purchase without consulting anyone. She needed to educate herself on what she could and couldn’t expense. If nothing else, though, she’d deduct it from her taxes as teachers could deduct various non-reimbursed classroom expenses. She could bend that rule this far.

“I think you know our concerns,” Dot said. “I’m still worried about sending Dennis into that department. I trust your commitment and integrity, but I know you won’t be able to monitor everything that goes on.”

“That’s another reason for the phone. It’s a safety device. I’ve programmed both my number and 911 into his speed dial. As well as your home number here. This will give Dennis a means of calling for help if the need arises. And Dennis, I expect you to use it if the need arises, not to try and tough out a bad situation.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Dennis was pretty overwhelmed. He couldn’t believe his coach had come through with this. He was determined to do the best job he could. He had just a bit of hero worship going on for his coach.

“Now, how are we coming along with getting people to the board meeting Tuesday night?” Ardith asked.

The Tuesday night school board meeting was one of the best attended in recent memory. Few remembered how Bartley School District had remained independent when so many schools had been consolidated years ago. As it happened, Hugh Bartley, the last of the Bartleys to live in these parts, saw that his beloved community was beginning to die out as people moved closer to the cities for work. His will left his entire estate to the school district to build a new high school and maintain its independence. The school itself had drawn some people to settle nearby. And when consolidation did hit, it was two smaller communities just five miles away that joined Bartley. Among them, they had just enough students to get state and national funding for their schools.

Unbeknownst to Ardith, she owed her job to Hugh’s endowment because he endowed the Language Department with the caveat that Latin was always to be taught at the school. And Ardith’s Latin classes had as many students as either the French or Spanish classes—the other two languages taught there.

The new high school was built according to Hugh’s specifications and on property he donated, anticipating expansion of the larger cities outward to a community that had large developable tracts of land for those who wanted to live in the peaceful countryside instead of the bustling city. That hadn’t really happened much yet. Technically, the school was larger than was needed and the building housed the junior high as well as the high school, though the younger kids were kept well-separated from their older counterparts. The gym, located between the two wings of the school, was big enough to house a game with fans on both sides of the court. Of course, the home section had a few more rows than the visitors’ section. There was a separate practice court for the junior high and the entire gym could be opened up for big events like commencement.

Unfortunately, the gym was underused. There were just too few athletes to be found in Bartley. So, when the board received the annual petition to start a girls’ basketball team, they were ready to deny the motion automatically until they saw nearly a hundred fifty parents crowd into the school cafeteria to support the petition.

“It appears we have people here who wish to speak to this petition. As soon as we get the microphone hooked up, I’ll ask you to form a line over on that side of the room and come forward one at a time to address the Board,” Superintendent Jones said. There was some shuffling around as people lined up and the maintenance man set up the little podium with a microphone on it and brought another to the Board’s table. “When you come to the microphone, please state your name clearly so we can be sure it’s recorded. Try to make your statements clear and concise. We will impose a three-minute limit on speakers but don’t feel you need to use it all. If this meeting goes over two hours, we’ll adjourn and schedule a second meeting to continue. First?”

“My name is Lily Armor. We have presented a petition to add girls’ sports to the athletic department every year for the past six or seven years. Ignoring Title IX mandates, the Board has always told us it didn’t have the resources to hire a coach and didn’t have a person on staff who could take on that position. Now we have a school employee who is willing to take on that responsibility. We would like the Board to approve our petition to start a girls’ basketball team at Hugh Bartley High School.” Mrs. Armor moved away from the podium.

“We have in hand a request from Ms. Ardith Graves that matches the petition and in which she agrees to take on coaching the girls’ team without additional compensation for one school year,” Jones said. “Ms. Graves, would you like to confirm your position and state your qualifications?” Ardith went to the Board table instead of the podium and accepted the microphone from Mr. Jones.

“I’m Ardith Graves, PE and Latin teacher at Hugh Bartley High School. I agree to take on the responsibility of coaching a girls’ basketball team for one school year without additional compensation. I believe we will show the community how valuable having this team can be in building community spirit, enhancing the development of players, and providing a badly needed extracurricular activity for our young women. I have a degree in the Classics with a minor in Physical Education from Winston University where I was a first string player for the Winston Wildcats. In addition, I have coached numerous intramural teams from junior high school on up. I know and understand the game, the conditioning, and the strategy for training a young women’s basketball team.”

“Thank you. Next?” Jones called. “Uh ... Ms. Graves, would you stay nearby here, please? Some of the questions to be asked may be directed to you.” He turned his attention back to the podium where Dennis’s mother stood. She had carefully coordinated her statement with Ardith during their meeting Sunday.

“My name is Dorothy Enders. Last year the athletic department allowed a team to bully and harass a younger team member. I’d like a clear statement regarding the school’s policy and preparedness to prevent that from happening again.”

“Is Coach Byers here?” Jones asked. The coach stood and approached. Jones handed him the microphone.

“I’m Jim Byers, Athletic Director for Hugh Bartley High School. Thank you, Mrs. Enders. I’ve wanted to make a statement about this for some time. First, the coach who was responsible for that team was released and a new coach hired for the JV basketball team. Much of that team could move up to varsity this year and will be under my direct supervision. I have established and posted in the athletic facilities, locker rooms, and gym a zero tolerance policy regarding bullying, abuse, and harassment. I am terribly ashamed that this incident was committed and allowed go so far before I was made aware of it. I ask parents to contact me immediately if they hear of any similar acts committed in our program. Once they are shown to be guilty, the player or staff member will immediately be removed from the team and all contact with the other team members. I will not treat victims as perpetrators. As coaches and teachers, we have a responsibility to nurture through athletic activities, not to damage our charges. Ardith?” He handed the microphone to her.