Mrs. Atkins stood up and walked to the table, facing the five. "Hello, even though we know each other, I feel like it's only proper I introduced myself for all to hear."
Gerald nodded, then sat down. "The floor is yours."
Mrs. Atkins faced the crowd. "Hello everybody. My name is Mary and some of you may know me from the pta meetings. Or maybe your sons play baseball with my sons. Or you may even know me and my husband, Wayne, from our real estate agency. We're active in both the school and the community. This is our home." Her look became serious. "As some of you know, Wayne and I, are foster parents. Every so often we get a request to take in a child and help them adjust. Early this month we received a similar request, except with more strenuous circumstances. Another high schooler."
Mrs. Atkins smiled at me in front of the crowd. "Jake is our newest addition. He's a bright young man who excels in math and likes to play baseball with my other sons. In spite of a rough start in life, he's powered through and made tremendous progress. He's an abnormally quiet kid, but that doesn't make him a bad teen. It doesn't make him a scheming, manipulative child like Jane Golladay has portrayed him to be. I've asked for this emergency meeting today to remove her from not only my sons life, but from our school. Someone who can spit such vile words to a young boy should have no reason to be a school counselor."
Most of the crowd started to clap. Mrs. Atkins smiled up at them. "Thank you everyone, and let me also thank you for your time. First off, this is Wayne, my husband." Mr. Atkins got up and joined her up front, giving the group a wave. "And we brought our family friend and lawyer, George Pickens to present our thoughts to the board." Mr. Pickens got up and joined them. "And last, but not least, Jake. Come on up." She waved for me to come.
Noah pushed me up, off the bench and to his mom. I slowly made my way to them, feeling over a hundred pairs of eyes on my back.
"Just give them a quick wave and then you can sit." Mr. Atkins whispered.
I gulped. I slowly turned to face them, lifted a hand, then immediately turned my back to them.
"Bambi!" A few of the guys from the team whooped. They got loud and I felt even more embarrassed. I quickly sat down next to Mr. Atkins, who had sat on the end.
Mrs. Atkins gave my shoulder a light squeeze before taking a seat next to me, leaving Mr. Pickens on the end. Mr. Pickens placed his briefcase down in his spot, but remained standing.
He waited until the gymnasium quieted down before addressing the school board. "As Mary has said before, my name is George Pickens. I've known the Atkins for the last two decades and have been their lawyer just as long."
"You know this isn't a court case, right?" Sally, the woman on our far right said.
Mr. Pickens nodded. "It's not one yet, but has potential. Not just against Jane Golladay, but against the school board as well."
"On what grounds?" Sally frowned.
"Failure to protect a child. Gross negligence. And willful misconduct." Mr. Pickens walked to stand between the two tables, still facing them. He raised his voice for all to hear. "These would be my top three. Depending on how this meeting goes."
The five men and women stayed silent so Mr. Pickens continued.
"Let's backtrack and talk about Jake. Jake Hollander is 14, a ward of the state and in the custody of the Atkins family. I've asked his caseworker from the state to be present and to share a few things about Jake and his circumstances." Mr. Pickens turned and faced the crowd. "Come up and share a few words, Doug."
Mr. Duncan stood up and walked over. Mr Pickens sat down in his seat and let Mr. Duncan have the floor. He was as awkward as I felt. "Uh, hello. My name is Doug Duncan. I'm a caseworker with the state of California, working with children in the foster care system." He faced the five board members. "I help children in the foster care system resolve behavioral, mental, and emotional issues. I try and find them a right fit with a reliable family, a good school, and a communicative psychologist in that order. Jake is a brilliant kid, but lacks social skills. He suffers from selective mutism."
"And what's that supposed to mean exactly?" Harold asked from the board.
"To explain, we have brought Jake's psychologist, Dr. Elijah Moore." Mr. Pickens stated from his seat. He looked over his shoulder and beckoned over the doctor.
Dr. Moore got up and walked over to Mr. Duncan, standing beside him. "Selective mutism is a complex childhood anxiety disorder characterized by a child's inability to speak and communicate effectively in select social settings, such as a school. It doesn't mean that he can't speak at all, but more like social anxiety is crippling his ability to do so."
"So imagine my surprise when I heard that a school counselor was not only accusing him of being a poor student for not participating in class, but she was also trying to force him to speak aloud to her." Dr. Moore became stern as he stared down the five. "Selective mutism is a disorder where the child has an actual fear of speaking. When confronted, it's normal for them to feel overwhelm, and will commit sporadic behavior. Like Jake. After being accosted and insulted, he listened to his instincts and ran."
"Luckily, he was found by a police patrolman in the area." Mr. Duncan continued where Dr. Moore stopped. "This is where gross negligence comes into play. This is an open campus so I want to know why there weren't more adults supervising the area? Can the children just come and go as they please?"
"That's a topic for the school principal, sir." Amanda Jimenez spoke up. "As we are the school board, we look over the district as a whole. I would like to get back to Mrs. Golladay. Your group has stated, a few times now, that Jake was accosted and insulted. In what way? Can you be more specific?"
Mr. Pickens stood up, paper in hand. "Key words from the meeting include: Unimpressive. Wasted excellence. Timid. Mute. Faint-hearted. Jake has been accused of not participating in class or communicating with class mates. And it's been insinuated that he's receiving 'undeserved special treatment.'" He looked back up and focused on Dr. Moore. "As a psychologist, what are your opinions on the words being said to your patient, Jake."
Dr. Moore faced the school board. "Honestly, it makes me feel disgusted. This is borderline discrimination against those with disabilities. And I'm appalled that any so-called counselor would think it's okay to describe a child like that. This could have unforeseen psychological damages on Jake and could cause a serious setback in his treatment."
Mr. Pickens nodded. "Thank you Dr. Moore. Mr. Duncan, do you have anything else to add before I move on?"
Mr. Duncan nodded. "I do. I'm concerned with the treatment that Jake has received. This counselor was supposed to greet him on the first day, but instead put him off for weeks. And then treated him like trash on the street. What I want to know, is how many other kids were made to feel this way?"
Mr. Pickens tilted his head at the board members. "That'll bring up my next point. The counselors patients, aka the students of the school, aka the kids of our community. I will now ask a few to come down and share their own experience with Mrs. Golladay."
