Mrs. Eriksen brought a plate of oatmeal cookies for the whole front row.
Millicent Rosenthal did not come.
Her resignation letter arrived by email at 6:52 and Ruth Ullman read it out loud in a very even voice.
"For personal reasons, and to spend time with my family."
Nobody said anything.
Then Ed Flanagan stood up and moved to rescind Motion 14B.
Ruth Ullman seconded it, as promised.
It passed nine to zero.
After that came a second motion, the one Mr. Lombardi and two teachers had been drafting all weekend at his kitchen table.
They called it the Faulkner Provision.
Every custodian, cafeteria worker, and bus driver in the district would receive full health benefits, regardless of the hours the board assigned.
The insurance claims from December first to January twenty-fourth would be reimbursed in full.
Thirty-eight thousand, nine hundred dollars.
I did not expect to cry at a vote.
