Chapter 33—The Board of Directors Meeting

March 14th, 2000

Gunnar's POV

I was sitting in The Board of Directors meeting with Eden Hall Academy School Board. The board meetings fell on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month. Adam and Charlie had told me about how their scholarships were almost revoked during their Freshman year and that Coach Bombay came through for Charlie and the Ducks getting the scholarships reinstated during that emergency meeting of the board. I did notice one thing both yesterday, and Today. Dean Buckley was not at school.

That was also not the only surprise for me, I found out that Adam's birth father, Phillip served on the school board. Now it made sense as to why Phillip started the lighter the night he was looking at the paperwork, he was going to destroy the evidence. This school is more than what Charlie believes; a whole bunch of people need to be knocked down a few pegs.

The Board of directors included the following people:

Tom Riley- Board President

Mary Beth Dixon- Board Vice President

George Wolf-Treasurer

Dr. Susan Wade-Secretary

Alma Franklin-Board member

Dr. James Howard-Board Member

Dr. Michael Richerson-Board Member

James Dubois-Board member

Bradley Jameson-Board Member

Dr. Nathan Montgomery the 3rd- Board member at large

Phillip Banks- Board member at large

"This Meeting will come to order,' Tom Riley, the Board of Directors president said. He then banged his gavel twice. The Board took their seats. 'Mrs. Dixon will lead us through The Pledge."

I stood up with the rest of the members of the audience and the Board Members, faced the flag and put my right hand over my heart and said.

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

And to the republic for which it stands.

One nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all."

"Be seated," Tom Riley said.

Once everybody was seated Tom Riley said, "Ms. Secretary, are there any excused absences among the members of the board?"

"No, Mr. President. There is one excused absence among the nonmembers of the board. That is the headmaster Dean Buckley," The Secretary Susan Wade said.

"I move that the excused absence of headmaster Dean Buckley be accepted," James Riley said.

"I second the motion," Phillip said.

"All in favor?" Tom Riley asked.

The entirety of the school board including Tom Riley raised his or her hands.

"Motion carried. Ms. Secretary would you please read the minutes of the last school board meeting on February 22nd. Followed by Mr. Treasurer's treasury report of February 22nd," Tom Riley asked.

"Yes, Mr. President," Susan Wade and George Wolf said together.

"This is the Eden Hall Academy School Board of directors meeting of February 22nd, 2000. The Meeting was called to order at 7:05 by Headmaster Dean Buckley. George Wolf led the pledge of Allegiance. The following items were discussed….." Ms. Wade started to say.

I turned to Coach Bombay and said in his ear, "This is so boring."

"I know, but this needs to be done, but look after the treasurer's report, what does it say?" Coach Bombay asked.

I looked at the piece of paper that Coach Bombay picked up from a table that was outside it read:

III. Action Items (Motion Needed)

Dean John Buckley, Jr. dismissal presentation by Gordon Bombay.

Approval of the 2000-2001 School Calendar.

Review of Computer Purchase for Black and Morgan Hall's.

Review of network systems for Black and Morgan Hall's.

"Your next?" I asked.

"Yes, after the treasurer speaks," Coach said.

I started to nod off while listening to the secretary and treasurer speak. I didn't get much sleep last night and had to have several Mountain Dew's and Pepsi's to keep me awake for classes. I took a little bit of a nap between the after-school rehearsal for the musical and when I had to get ready for the School Board Meeting. The musical was now taking up the time after school that we would normally be at the study table because it was now less than a month away until the opening night of the musical. The musical rehearsal would wrap up at about 4:50 and I along with Julie, Connie, Guy, Bella, and Russ would join the rest of the Ducks walking up from the library heading to the student center for dinner. After dinner the 6 of us along with Adam and Charlie, if they had homework, which Charlie always did would go back down to the library to finish studying.

I felt an elbow in my side, "Oh sorry was I dozing again?" I asked.

"Yes, but the treasurer is almost done," Coach said.

"I move that the board meeting notes and treasurer's report from February 22nd, 2000, be accepted," Alma Franklin said.

"I second the motion," Michael Richerson said.

"All in favor?" Tom Riley said.

The entirety of the school board raised his or her hands.

"Motion carried. Next on our list of discussion is the presentation of the Dismissal of Dean Buckley, Mr. Bombay you have the floor," Tom Riley said.

Coach stood up and buttoned his suit jacket before he said, "Thank you Mr. Riley, members of the board. I am here to present to you some evidence that was found in this very school regarding one of the seniors of the student body, Gunnar Stahl."

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS ABOUT?" Phillip yelled.

I started to loosen my tie. Adam had tied my tie, and he did it way too tight.

{Flashback to earlier in the evening, Adam, and Gunnar's dorm room}

"I don't know why we are doing this; I am so scared that I am going to get kicked out of here," I said while trying to fix my tie.

"Gunnar you need to relax, all of the evidence points to Dean Buckley not you," Adam said.

"I just don't think that I can do this, what the hell was Charlie thinking?" I said, still fixing my tie.

"I don't know, he is my best friend, and I even don't know what goes through that rock picking mind of his," Adam said.

"I thought I was your best friend?" I asked, pulling my tie out because I did it wrong.

"You are, it's just that I have known him longer than you, so he is best friend number 1, and you are best friend number 2, not to mention my hot sexy boyfriend and here let me do it. You are driving me nuts," Adam said as he got up from his desk. I scooted down for him, and he did my tie.

"Thanks Adam," I said as he pulled the knot up in place.

"Don't worry, Dad will knock them dead," Adam said as he placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze.

{End of Flashback}

"What I am talking about as you can see on page 2 are two receipts for canceled checks from the Iceland government dated May of 1998 and December of 1998 totaling thirty thousand dollars, to Dean Buckley the letter on page 3 states that the final payment in December was to ensure that Mr. Stahl was to be made captain of the Varsity Hockey team. Which was done on February 16th, 1999. It was obvious that Dean Buckley only saw money that would have been coming in from Mr. Stahl's enrollment here at Eden Hall and it is only appropriate that he would be dismissed. Because what Dean Buckley did was immoral and unethical not to mention illegal," Coach said.

"Oh, and you are going to do what Mr. Bombay, sue Eden Hall? May I remind you that you and your wife do work for Eden Hall," Phillip said.

"I turned in my resignation at the end of the hockey season as for my wife she hasn't decided if she will return in the fall due to a family matter. I believe that it is best to cut ties with Dean Buckley before I take this to a special prosecutor, which could lead to having this wonderful institution's name be drug through the mud. I don't think that is something that you all want to see happen after it has been around for almost one hundred years," Coach said.

Tom Riley started to rub his finger in small circles around the temple region of his head.

"Mr. Bombay, May I remind you that Dean Buckley has been a proud member of the Eden Hall Academy faculty for 28 years, why all of the sudden would he want to do such a thing?" Dr. Howard asked.

"Dr. Howard, my guess is about as good as yours is. I was a former student of his in the late seventy's. I was shocked when this entire file folder turned up in the hands of Mr. Stahl," Coach said.

"So let me get this straight you would have us fire a good administrator and have faculty leave left and right, not to mention students and families leave. All because of the unethicalness of said administrator?" Mary Beth Dixon asked.

"Believe me Mrs. Dixon as hard as it is for me to say this, because I looked up to Dean Buckley as a student, a parent and a colleague I just can't stand to think how much mud we will be dragging through because what he did was unethical and he honestly should not be leading a school at all," Coach said.

"I have heard enough," Tom Riley said.

"I quite agree, I move that this be stuck from the meeting and that Dean Buckley retain his position here at Eden Hall," Phillip said.

"I second the motion," Dr. Howard said.

"All in favor?" Tom Riley said as he raised his hand along with Philip, Mary Beth Dixon, Dr. Howard, Dr. Richerson and Mr. Wolf raised their hands.

"Opposed?" Tom Riley said. Susan Wade, Alma Franklin, Mr. James Riley, Mr. Bradley Jameson, and Dr. Montgomery raised their hands.

"Seems we are at a quandary," Tom Riley said.

"I motion that we hear what Dean Buckley has to say about this," Alma Franklin said.

"I second the motion," Susan Wade said.

"All in favor?" Tom Riley said. Again, Susan Wade, Alma Franklin, Mr. James Riley, Mr. Bradley Jameson, Dr. Montgomery and what surprised me the most was that Mr. George Wolf raised his or her hands.

"Opposed?" Tom Riley said and raised his hand with the remaining five members of the board that were on his side.

"Motion carried. A special board meeting will be called on Thursday March 16th, 2000, at 4:30pm, All in favor?" Tom Riley said.

The entirety of the school board raised his or her hands.

"Motion carried. Mr. Bombay you have until then to prepare your questions for Dean Buckley," Tom Riley said.

"Thank you, President Riley," Coach said and then he came to sit by me. Once he was seated he pulled out a legal pad and pen and started to write questions for Dean Buckley. I knew I wasn't going to get sleep again the next two nights.

Dean Buckley's POV

I knew that taking the money that I took for Gunnar's enrollment and varsity captainship was wrong. But I just couldn't turn down all of those thirty thousand. My wife Amanda was diagnosed with Glioblastoma brain cancer in the spring of 1998. Unfortunately, she had to give up her position teaching at the U, so we were just down to my salary. Which was enough to keep us afloat normally but the health insurance that I got through Eden Hall didn't cover many of the drugs that the doctors have her on to treat the cancer. This is the second time that my wife is facing down a diagnosis of cancer, the first came in the early 1970's with ovarian cancer, leaving us childless. I was born and raised near Morgantown, West Virginia in 1941. Named after my father John Christopher Buckley, Senior. My father was in the coal mining industry. He never made it out of the eighth grade and here I am his son, with a doctorate in education. My mother, who is in her eighty's would tell me that my father would have been so proud of me. Lately I don't think that he would be so proud of me.

My father died in a coal mining accident in 1961 I was a Junior at West Virginia University majoring in Biology with the intended purposes of becoming a scientist. Someone discovering cures for everything. After my father died I had to disenroll from school to help my mother put her life back together, which included moving off of company property to Morgantown. It took several months to figure out my next move, which was enlisting in the Navy in 1962. I left for basic training in San Diego, California in June of that year after graduating from basic training I was transferred to Pensacola, Florida for Aircraft maintenance school. After I was done with the Aircraft maintenance school I was sent to Alameda, California to the naval air station out there and my first ship the USS Ticonderoga. Where I met my wife's brother Michael Dickerson, we were both Aircraft maintenance men. Our deployment to The South China sea was from November of 1962 to August of 1963, I got to know and love Michael. He was like the brother I never had. Which was awesome because I didn't have any brothers. I was the oldest of three, both of my younger siblings were girls that were 5 and 8 years younger than I was. Michael introduced me to Amanda in late August of 1963, it was love at first sight for both of us.

We spent 4 months courting before the Navy called and both Michael and I had to board the USS Ticonderoga for an 11-month deployment back to Vietnam. Amanda would start writing letters to both Michael and I, but after some time away the letters would come only to me. I don't think that Michael was jealous because he knew that I would let him read everything that Amanda wrote. We came home on December 15th, 1964, and I had the ring that I purchased for Amanda while I was in Hawaii back in May. I had permission from Michael to ask her for her hand in marriage, But I still had to impress their father, yet. It took me 9 days to get the permission to get married to Amanda and I asked during Christmas dinner in 1964, she immediately said yes, and we called my mother and told her about us getting married, my mother cried saying that she couldn't believe her baby was getting married.

We had intended on getting married on October 23rd, 1965, because I was told that we were not shipping out until 2 weeks before Thanksgiving that year. Then on September 7th both Michael and I received orders to be on the Ticonderoga on September 28th, 1965. Amanda and I had no choice but to cancel everything and go to a Justice of the Peace on September 17th and get married. We had a short 3-day honeymoon in San Francisco. Then it was back to work getting the Ticonderoga ready for deployment. Amanda had to move us and her brother into base housing by herself in San Diego. We came home on May 13th of 1966, and I got her pregnant later that month. Michael also got a girl pregnant while we were home, but we had to ship out in early July of 1966 on my last deployment and by the end of that month Amanda had lost the baby. Amanda was very jealous that Michael's girl Valerie was able to carry to term and she could not. I tried in vain to get out of the deployment, but I wasn't able to come home since I was needed as the war in Vietnam was heating up.

We didn't come home until almost 10 months later. I decided that after 5 years and four deployments I was done. I had asked to be transferred to the Naval Reserves. Michael and Valerie got married the Summer of 1967 and I got Amanda pregnant again, but while we were moving up to San Francisco, we suffered another miscarriage, this time the baby implanted itself in the tube of one of her fallopian tubes and surgeons had to go in and remove the tube and the baby. That devastated Amanda and nearly destroyed our marriage. I decided to enroll in the University of California in Berkeley, California that fall.

It took us three years and a decommissioning out of the Naval Reserves in 1970 for us to put our marriage back together. I wouldn't say that I cheated although I did have a wandering eye. I can't help it; I was a guy and not getting anything at home except for heated arguments between me and Amanda. By then Michael and Valerie were divorced and poor Steven had to spend every other weekend and a month during the summer with Michael here in San Francisco while Valerie still lived in Los Angeles. Micheal followed me and Amanda to San Francisco a year after I was in the Naval Reserves.

I got Amanda pregnant the day after Christmas in 1970, we were surprised when the baby made it to 3 months, then 4 months and then 5 months. I graduated from Berkely on May 22nd, 1971. Our fears came back a week later when Amanda went into labor and the doctors tried but could not save the baby, it was a still born. I decided that was the point that I was going to go for the interview at Eden Hall, Amanda didn't understand why Minnesota of all places. But we needed a fresh start. I got the job teaching biology to the students and we moved to Minneapolis in July of 1971. We kept trying to have a baby until February of 1972 when Amanda was diagnosed with stage 3 Ovarian cancer. Luckily, Dr. Hanson who was the headmaster at the time understood what Amanda and I were going through at the time. I was picked to replace Dr. Hanson in the science department and as headmaster in 1994. Anyway, Amanda had to have a hysterectomy that would leave us childless in March of 1972. It was then we decided that we would adopt my students as our kids. Amanda said that she didn't think that she could look at the face of a freshly born baby and not be able to cry about the heartache that she, well actually we suffered.

I decided to go and get my biology graduate degree in the fall of 1972 and graduated in 1976, it was hard work working an entire school day and going to school at night. But I got through it by taking one class at a time during the school year and two during the summer. In February of 1977 Amanda kicked cancer's ass to the ground. It was at that point that I wanted to adopt a child for us to hold forever. Again, Amanda didn't want to deal with that. The next year Gordon Bombay came into my life and let me tell you he was a firecracker from day one. But always a serious student, I knew that he was going places.

In the late eighty's I decided to go after my Doctorate in Administrative Licensure for grades Kindergarten through twelfth grade from The University of Minnesota or the U as the locals would affectionally call the school. It was then that Dr. Hanson was looking at retirement, I knew I was at least 15 years from retirement myself. I graduated with my doctorate in the summer of 1990 and was surprised when I was tapped to become sixth headmaster of Eden Hall in 1994. Amanda was so proud of me. She was working for the University of Minnesota as a professor in History. In 1996 the Ducks came to Eden Hall and well you know the story.

"So let me get this straight,' Amanda said, jolting me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah," I said.

"The board can fire you because of the money that you took for Gunnar's enrollment?" Amanda asked.

"Yes, unfortunately," I said.

"And then what John? What do we do?" Amanda said.

"I don't know, my pension is gone. But we have some in savings. Maybe it's time to move home to West Virginia, I don't know, maybe I could get a position there at one of the universities," I said.

"You should have sent the money back to Iceland, like I told you. Then maybe we would not be in this mess," Amanda said.

"I know but we were starting to struggle financially, and the insurance would not cover your medical bills, I had to do something," I said.

"I know John, I know. And we will figure out a way out of this mess," Amanda said.

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