A contentious decision

You watch as the Dean makes his way to the front of the room, apparently oblivious to the mutterings that come from all sides. Pulling the booklet with Code of Conduct written in bold red letters across the front cover from the breast pocket of his jacket he shows it to the room.

"I'm sure most of you have seen this book before." He says as you open your file folder to take out the copy you had noticed earlier. "This is the information that is sent to the students and their parents each year as part of the Welcome Packet, most of it is pretty standard as you know, but I was surprised to read the section of corporal punishment." As he speaks you flip to the relevant section, starting to read with a sense amusement growing with each word.

"After a good amount of consideration, I have decided that lacking any other clearly defined guidelines that I will enforce the Code of Conduct as it is written." The room is immediately filled with a babble of voices, most of them heated, and you sit back and watch the uproar.

There seem to be at least four factions. A group of older women fronted by the outspoken Miss Swanson seem to be outraged against the Dean's actions largely based on his gender. A second group that includes the shy librarian seen to be opposed to the decision for reasons based on modernistic educational theory.

Several others including Donna Considine, Lorri McKay and some of the younger teachers seem to think the Dean's decision is long overdue. The rest of the teachers, including the other two men, either had no idea what was going on or hid their feelings pretty well,

"Ms. Naylor!" Miss Swanson squawks. "You simply cannot allow a man to mistreat our refined young ladies like that! It's an outrage!"

"Miss Swanson," the Dean speaks before Ms. Naylor can respond. "If the students at the Academy are as refined as you say then this is a moot point. Paddling is only mandated for serious offences: cheating, drinking, sexual misconduct, bullying and repeated lesser offences including insolence and dress code violations. These hardly sound like the things refined young ladies would do."

"I thought you wanted to see these girls learn respect." Donna Considine feigns confusion as she regards Miss Swanson. "Aren't you the one always talking about how much better our students behaved when Mrs. Marshal was here to show them their place?" There are muted chuckles from every corner of the room, apparently this is an oft-heard lament from the spluttering woman, and one that the teachers in the room were sick of hearing.

"But we can't let him paddle the student's like Mrs. Marshal did." A dark-haired bespectacled woman in a Clinton style pant-suit interjects. "I mean the parents won't put up with it, especially after what happened last year..." Her question tails off into an awkward silence and everywhere you look you see the once stridently opinionated faculty pretending that nothing unseemly had happened.

"Actually, Ms. Lawson." the Headmistress steps in to fill the void, "I spent a good amount of time on the phone yesterday speaking with a selection of both parents and alumni, I found a surprising amount of support for the idea. Of course, that's before it's their daughter whose ass is being tanned."

There is a sprinkling of laughter from several of the assembled teachers, and the unease that you had noticed when Ms. Lawson had spoken seems to dissipate. Dean Hawkfeather steps into the hiatus.

"The book specifically calls for all paddling to be witnessed by at least one other adult. It's not like I'm going to take them alone into my office to **** them." With a nod that is as close to a salute as you've seen without actually being one, her returns to his seat, surrendering the floor to Ms. Naylor.