Hayfield Hall: Interlude-04
By: Annette MacGregor & Karen Page

As seen in A New Style of Education (in July of 2005) Rachel Ruiz is the Head of the Support Staff, and the previous year (as seen in Hidden Gifts), Kate Mayhew was head. What happened? Another staff change occurred at the same time. Dr. Sue only recently became the primary internist for the school. What happened to cause this change? Did something happen last year to cause this staff change? Was the change voluntary? I wrote this interlude to rationalize, in my mind, why some people in important positions might leave without jeopardizing the school — And, in the case of Rachel, lay the groundwork (in my mind) for why they recruited a new Head, rather than promoted from within.

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Interlude Early Autumn 2004.

What follows is a conversation between the Headmaster, and the Head of Support Services shortly following her husband's 70th birthday party celebration. She's just a few years younger than he is and both are well beyond normal retirement age.

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"Okay, Quentin, now to the subject I really needed to talk about," continued Kate Mayhew from her seat across the desk from the headmaster; "You know I have to retire this school year."

"Are you sure, Kate? The kids really need you."

"Stacy and Andrew will be fine, but next year is their last year. Stacy can be Beta-One then, but after that, Beta-One will be at best two years younger. I know you have doubts about the Beta program in general, but it's here and here to stay."

"All right, we won't argue the merits of the Beta programme again this time. But, why do you say you have to leave this year? Don't you think staying on a few more years would be better, 'specially with the gap between Stacy and new Beta team candidates?"

"No, I don't. It would be worse if I had to drop suddenly. We need to arrange a smooth transition–for the children's sake."

He sighed in agreement. "I can't argue that. So, who do we switch to your position?"

"That is a problem," Kate replied. "Dan or Tracy would be the obvious candidates, since they've both been here over a decade."

"Tracy won't do. I know she's been here the longest, but she's also the most resistant to the extra activities we're asking the children to perform. While she'd be great organizationally and has the children's best interest at heart, I don't think she could handle your Beta support duties."

"I came to the same conclusion, so I sounded Dan out over the last few weeks. You may be surprised to know he's well aware of many of the extra activities of the school, and has no problem with them. And, before you ask, no, I didn't confirm what he'd concluded, other than to say he'd been very observant. In many ways, he'd be ideal. However..." her voice trailed off at the end.

"What's the problem?"

"He said that he's not willing to swap kids with me so that he can take care of Ingrid and Fran–and, he's right to some extent. Renee is still very uncomfortable around me, so that would mean more disruption to achieve a three way swap." She paused then, "I did try to convince you of the issue last spring, you know."

"Yes, I know. I think part of it is that I see you as the heart of this school." He paused before continuing, "and I have difficulty envisioning the place without you."

"Quentin, Quentin." She shook her head. "The school will be here long after we're both gone. But, since Dan's not an option, we're down to Becky and Keith. Keith's obviously not in the running. He's good with the kids, but doesn't have the personality to deal with the issues. Becky's not much better for a different set of reasons. You know we've had issues where she's got preconceived notions and misinterpreted what the kids have said and done. So far, nobody's been hurt. The worst example was shortly after the new kids started. Somehow, she came to the conclusion that Sophia was TG and was setting her up with Bill to discuss options for postponing puberty. Which event, in turn, was a major factor in early deduction of the 'no contact' rule." She sighed at that.

Quentin was taken aback at this, "I figured that kid would figure things early, but… No, let's get back to Becky."

"I suspect that, with guidance and experience, she'll grow out of this, but she's not there yet.

"I've not seen that myself, Kate, as you've taken care of things in your area, but I'll keep my eyes open now that you've mentioned it. That doesn't leave anyone else, unless we find another head, and I revert back to support."

"No. You're best where you are. I'm afraid we'll need to look outside to find the right person."

"You may be right. I'll pass that on, but we need to take a look at our existing staff as well. Maybe Dan and Renee will come along faster than we expect."

"We can't depend on that, Quentin, and you know it. Ingrid and Fran will be fine. Both of them are very stable now, and will be able to handle a switch to a replacement support person. Besides, there is still the issue we may one day have to face if Sophia's father is posted elsewhere before they finish here."

He sighed again. "You're right again. You know, we didn't want to add the second year five pair three years ago."

"No, but Stacy and Andy weren't ready then, though, they were the next year. We both know that nobody in year two or three are up to it. So, since we'll have to either disband the Beta team, which I don't think is a good idea, or have very young members next year. Which, brings me back to why I think we need to switch this year; this will allow the transition to occur this year, and provide a stable start for the newcomers."

Quentin had no choice but to agree. As he thought about it, he found it ironic that it was a "Hobson's Choice".

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* In some areas, "Hobson's Choice" is synonymous with having no choice at all.

Comments are greatly appreciated! Short? Yes, but not much more was needed.

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Hayfield Hall: Interlude-03 has not yet been posted, but it does exist.
The author was to lazy to swap the numbers.