Ryan turned off the main street to where there was a machinery repair garage that catered for farmers and a school. It wasn't the area school, though but a youth hostel in what was the original primary school. Next to it was the Tuckett Inn, the motel they had booked into. It looked modern and pleasant with a large sign showing a nineteenth century explorer with a bushy beard.
"He was an Otago explorer the place was named after," Ryan said. "According to what I looked up he never actually came through here. Want to go in?"
"Not yet. Let's drive around to the school," Karla glanced down at the map on her iPad. "Take the next left then right and we should see it."
Tuckett Area School looked exactly as it had on the Google map with a modern block of classrooms beside a new administration block and assembly hall or gymnasium. They parked, unloaded Alexis into a buggy and walked around the deserted playgrounds. It looked well cared for with tennis courts, a large climbing equipment area and fields surrounded by a neatly trimmed macrocarpa hedge. There was a small vegetable garden that again looked well cared for.
The buildings behind the new block adjacent to the road were older but again well painted and well maintained. There was another modern building that on closer inspection was a manual arts block with an art, cooking, woodwork rooms as well as science laboratory. Across from the car park was a block of older classrooms that looked empty and was fenced off from the playground. Adjacent to it she came to another building with the sign Little Hands - Tuckett's Pre-school for infants to five. It had a wonderful little playground of climbing equipment that appeared brand new.
"The school looks well cared for with no graffiti or litter," Karla commented.
"But lonely and so far from anywhere," Ryan added.
Karla grimaced. "I know. I wouldn't want to move here permanently but..." She stopped and swung around to view the grounds. "I don't know, Ryan. One part of me is all excited inside while the other is the conservative me coming out and I wonder if it is worth the major disruption to our lives."
Ryan tucked an arm around her. "I'll be okay if we come. That optic fibre means I can do anything here that I can do in Wellington so it's what you want."
"It's the people that make the difference," Karla said. "It's a pity we couldn't get here when the school was open. But come on; let's go to our motel now. There must be someone there who we can discretely ask about the school."
"Yeah. In these small towns everyone knows everything about the school, good or bad."
AT THE MOTEL, KARLA and Ryan had just put Alexis to bed and were relaxing in front of the television when there was a knock on the door. Karla grimaced and saw Ryan shrug. Who would want to visit them here? It was probably the proprietress with clean towels or something.
She opened the door and noticed a woman about her own age standing there. She was dressed in quite upmarket but casual clothes and looked almost apprehensive.
"Hello. Can I help you?"
"You're Karla Spicer, if I'm not mistaken."
"Why yes but how do you know me?"
The woman held out her hand that Karla shook. "I am sorry to interrupt your evening but couldn't let you just come and go. I am Sonya Bray from the Tuckett Area School's Board of Trustees."
"Hello Sonya. Come on in."
Karla stepped back and let the visitor in, introduced her to Ryan and invited her to sit, all the time wondering how she knew they were in town.
"Coffee of cup of tea?" Ryan asked.
"I'd love a cup of white coffee, thank you."
Sonya came across as being as upmarket as Karla's original impression, more like the pushy women back at Tui Park than say a dairy farmer's wife. She had a modern hairstyle, modest makeup, several rings on her fingers and a silk scarf tied neatly around her neck.
"And we thought we could just anonymously breeze in and have a look around," Ryan said from the tiny kitchen as he plugged the kettle in.
Sonya laughed. "That's a small town for you, Brenda, the proprietress here, recognised your name when you signed in and phoned me." She glanced up. "Your name was given to us by a Mr Cosgrove from the Ministry of Education. You know him, I believe?"
"Oh yes, we've known John for several years now," Karla replied.
"Since your days at Top Plateau School?"
Karla frowned. "True but how...."
"The internet, Karla," Sonya replied. "There are numerous news items about you and everything that has happened to you there and at Tui Park. I read about the little school burning down, the bikie gang and how you exposed that deviant principal. You certainly rose through the ranks quickly."
Karla grimaced and felt a little annoyed. This Sonya reminded her of Pauline the somewhat overbearing parent at Tui Park who had gradually become a good friend. She however, kept her opinions concealed but felt the slight squeeze on her arm. Ryan had just placed with three mugs of coffee on the table and had realised what she was thinking.
"Karla is an excellent principal," he defended. "It is more than just good luck. If she was not capable she wouldn't be principal of one of Wellington's top primary schools." He sat down. "Nor would she have been offered secondment to the position here."
"So you have come here to say thank you for your interest but we don't need an outsider coming into our community and telling us what to do?" Karla spoke in a quiet but quite formal tone, for it was time to be blunt.
Sonya sipped her coffee and said nothing for a moment before placing her mug down. "No Karla, you've got it entirely wrong. I'm afraid you will look around and think why should you bother to come to this remote corner of the country? " She smiled. "It is my home Karla, I went to Tuckett primary as it was then and came back to the high school. Got homesick after a few months at a girls' school in Dunedin but I digress. I have three children and also several nieces and nephews at the school here with Andrew, my fourteen year old in Year 10."
"One of the founding families?" Ryan cut in.
Sonya almost flushed but nodded. "Andrew is drifting, Karla and he is not the only one. Oh the junior school is great but with the dwindling roll, the high school part is the worry." She stared directly into Karla's eyes and reached out to grab both her hands. "I've come here this evening to ask you, no plead with you to come and help us out."
CHAPTER 3
Back home in Wellington the following Tuesday, Karla received a formal email from The Ministry of Education offering her the position as Change Principal at Tuckett Area School to begin at the start of May. This was the beginning of Term Two, a quarter of the academic year through the four term New Zealand year and heading for the southern hemisphere winter. The conditions were generous with her present salary continued plus an extra fifty thousand dollars, her shift would be paid and furnished accommodation was available in one of the schoolhouses for a nominal rental. She also had the right to cancel the appointment at any time and return to her position as principal at Tui Park whenever she wished. The Ministry would also pay pre-school fees for Alexia at the crèche. This was something not provided in her permanent position.
The following day she received a traditional letter by post from the Tuckett Area School Board of Trustees welcoming her if she decided to accept the position and stating that they would co-operate in the fullest in her efforts to improve the situation at their school. Sonya Bray, chairperson of the board, signed it.
"She never told us she was the chairperson," Karla said to Ryan as she handed the letter for him to read that evening.
"I think she visited us unofficially as a parent." Ryan grinned. "This is certainly an official letterhead so must have been authorised by a board vote."
"Why do you say that last bit?"
Ryan grinned. "I can also look up newspaper articles on the web. Over the last two years Dunedin's newspaper, The Otago Daily Times has written several items about Tuckett Area School. One tells that the ministry threatened to dissolve the board a year ago and replace them with a commissioner but never elaborated. There wasn't much
else in the paper until last week when they had a small article saying that one of the country's first change principals was about to be appointed there."
"So why didn't Sonya mention all of this?"
"Because she wants you to come and attempted to make everything as positive as possible."
Karla grimaced. "One more tick in the turn it down list."
"Better still, telephone Sonya and ask her directly what is wrong. Tell her that if she is not forthcoming, you will be turning the position down. You could also contact John Cosgrove. I bet he has plenty of information about the place that the media never found out."
"I'll call them both tomorrow," Karla retorted. "If they want me to go there they can at least tell me everything that has been going on."
EXCEPT FOR SONYA'S explanation being perhaps a little more personal, both replies were similar. The Board of Trustees had had trouble balancing their books and there was a personal conflict between the members from the two school boards that were amalgamated when the area school was formed. The members who had once been on the old high school board tried to keep the senior school running separate from the primary section.
It was John who added that these members were backed by Don Trow while the primary section had Sonya's support.
"So they expect me to solve five years of infighting?" she muttered to John when she rang him a second time.
"No, you're in charge. If the board refuses to work out their own differences to an extent that the teachers are hindered in doing their professional duties, they'll be dissolved and a commissioner brought in. Usually, when this happens the commissioner stays in charge until the next national election of boards of trustees are held." He coughed. "If you find a lack of co-operation from the board, call me and they'll be immediately dissolved. You will have quite substantial powers. Do you want me to send you a copy of the complete act as passed by the government? There are a couple of hundred clauses and sub-clauses."
"Don't worry. I'm sure that if I cross any boundaries I'll be told."
"So you're accepting the position?"
Karla grinned at the phone. "I've still got a few days to make up my mind, John?"
"Yeah right. Got another school with similar problems if you want a choice."
"No thanks. I'll either go to Tuckett or stay here. 'Bye."
She chuckled as she clicked off before he could reply. She'd speak to Ryan again but decided that the challenge intrigued her and there were enough safeguards in place if things went wrong and they could certainly do with the extra money.
She would accept the position.
MOST OF THE TWO WEEKS of the school holiday was used in their shift. Even though they didn't have to take their furniture, washing machine or refrigerator they used a small container for their personal items. The schoolhouse was one of four attached to the school and was actually larger than their small Wellington home. It was designed for the cold climate with double glazed windows, modern central heating, carpeted floors and really had everything they needed.
They received a cautious welcome from parents, staff and Don Trow while Sonya really extended herself to make them welcome by inviting them out to her farm about ten kilometres west of the school for a meal. She introduced her husband Parker as well as her children and fussed over Alexia. Andrew, her eldest can across as a quiet boy who said little and spent his time while they were visiting, on his tablet.
So the first day of the new term arrived, Karla had already requested that she wanted no fuss or formal welcome though did agree to a school introduction at the school assembly that was timed for the afternoon. She told Don Trow she would just observe over the first few days and that he and all the staff should carry on as usual. He nodded but his body language was negative. She though, said nothing and forced herself to pleasant and positive.
She began with the familiar, by visiting the primary classes. The teachers were all female, young and in most cases nervous. There were four classes for a hundred and four children between Year 1 and 8 and in many ways they were typical children only different from at Tui Park in that most of the children were Caucasian with only a few Maori children and a mere handful of Indian or Chinese children. Back home, a third of the Tui Park children were Asian and another ten percent, Maori.
After morning recess where she made a point of mixing with everyone over morning coffee she headed towards the secondary classrooms and really into unfamiliar territory for she had never taught or been associated with a high school before.
THE HIGH SCHOOL SECTION classrooms were again different from her expectations. In all of them the pupils were working quietly on ipads or exercise books while in the technical arts block, the Year 9 and 10 class of eighteen students were cooking cakes or muffins and a delicious aroma filled the air. Noticeable were the small number of pupils and that they wore a blue uniform, again in the tradition of most high schools in New Zealand. The teachers here also appeared older than in the junior school with most a decade older than herself. Again this was typical of most high schools in that staff did not move on between schools to the extent of those in the primary schools. This could also be why the rooms appeared to be more formal than with the younger teachers and pupils and perhaps why the integration of the primary and high school sections had been only a token effort.
Karla walked into the senior common room where the eighteen Year 12 and 13 students, they could hardly be called pupils at their age, could go to relax during free periods. It was in the original administration block and had the appearance of a teenager's bedroom with posters everywhere. A television set tuned to a music channel blared out in the corner and half a dozen teenagers; mainly girls lounged on old but comfortable sofas. Even though still in uniform they looked more like adults than the younger pupils. The girls in particular could easily be confused with the younger teachers on the staff.
When she walked in, several things happened simultaneously; one boy jumped up and turned the television off, a couple on a sofa moved discretely away from each other and two others hastily removed mobile phones from sight.
One tall girl stood up and approached Karla with an almost embarrassed smile on her face. "I'm sorry Madam but you must be lost. This is the senior common room. If you would like to go through the walkway to the new building..." she said in a very formal voice that held that trace of a southern accent Karla had noticed in this part of New Zealand.
Karla smiled. "And what a wonderful room you have err..."
"Rita Sutherland."
"Of course, you're the head girl. Heard you did extremely well in last year's NCEA exams, Rita."
The young woman frowned while the others in the room all focused their attention on them both. "Okay, I guess," she muttered and stared at her. "Oh my God, you can't be!"
"I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself. I am Karla Spicer." She held out her hand and received a limp handshake.
"The new CP?" gasped one of the boys.
"CP?" Karla smiled. "An interesting acronym."
"Yeah," the boy muttered. "Cre..." He flushed when Rita glowered at him. "I mean, Change Principal."
Karla turned to him. "Go on; what does CP stand for?"
"Creepy Prick," the only other boy in the room spluttered out. "Sorry, we didn't expect somebody like you, Mrs Spicer. Welcome to Tuckett Area School. We are going to meet you formally at this afternoon's assembly."
"Call me Karla."
"What?" a couple of girls gasped.
"The students at my previous school are much younger than you all. They all call me Karla so why not you?"
"We don't call teachers, let alone a principal by their first name," Rita explained.
Karla nodded. "You can now," she replied. "You are the senior students in this school and are not kids any more." She cast her eyes around the room. "If you want to watch music on the TV or chat on your mobiles while you're here, do so."
"Mr Mortland will kill us," another girl cut in.
Clive Mortland w
as the DP in charge of the secondary section of the school who she had met a few moments earlier.
"I'll speak to him," Karla replied but turned serious. "However, with more liberal regulations comes responsibility. You are the leaders in this school, all of you. Here, I hope that any changes I make will not come at a cost." She smiled. "But I'm not here to lecture you."
"Unlike Old Trow," a third girl almost whispered.
Karla turned to Rita. "Will you introduce your friends, please? In the coming weeks I'm going to need you all to help make Tuckett Area School an even better place than it is now."
"Sure Mrs... I mean Karla," Rita replied and introduced everyone there.
Karla stayed a while to chat, met a couple of more students who had arrived and took her leave. Outside she stopped for a moment and grinned for she overheard a boy's voice.
"I expected an old trout of sixty," he said. "She's younger than half of our teachers."
"I wouldn't cross her, though," Rita replied. "I have a feeling Old Trow and even Clive have finally met their match."
"Didn't even..." The voices faded as Karla discretely shut the door and headed back through the connecting walkway towards the hall and administration block. This was completely enclosed with double glazed sliding doors rather than just having a roof like at the North Island Schools. It was heated and warm, while outside a twelve degree frost covered the asphalt and grass in a thick sheet of white punctuated by a few lonely footprints.
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