Episode 316 - To Green, With Love

[Scene: The PTA Meeting. They are discussing the Matt Caufield expulsion. Joey, Dawson and Pacey are there in the seats as this is going on. The crowd is upset over the expulsion.]

Dawson: This isn't going well, is it?

Pacey: Well, it depends on who you ask.

Joey: Yeah. If you're an enraged parent with a misguided agenda, It's going great.

Board Member: Correct me if I'm wrong, superintendent, but I don't recall the board of education passing any rules, that allows a lunatic to start handing out death sentences, just because one of our kids acted like a kid!

Parent2: Yeah!

Superintendent: Please, please, please. As I've mentioned, I've strongly urged Principal Green to reconsider his decision, but as much as I wish it weren't so, Principal Green has final say in all Capeside High disciplinary matters!

Mr. Caufield: Dr. Fielding, Dr. Fielding, may I?

Superintendent: Oh, yes, please. Please, Mr. Caufield.

Mr. Caufield: Do you consider yourself a member of this community?

Superintendent: Yes.

Mr. Caufield: Are you going to let the personal prejudices of an outsider ruin my son's future?

Joey: I can't take this anymore. I have to say something. This is ridiculous. This whole thing has been blown out of proportion.

Superintendent: This is a PTA meeting, young lady, not a pep rally. Now, you'll have your seat, please.

Joey: Well, isn't anyone going to defend Principal Green for everything that he's done?

Mr. Caufield: Miss Potter, my son tells me that you are the one who's mural was destroyed.

Joey: This has nothing to do with me, ok?

Mr. Caufield: You're exactly right. What it has to do with is the scare tactics of a man whose extremism and notions of justice, are better suited for an urban war zone than our civilized community.

Joey: You did not just say what I think you said.

Mr. Caufield: What I'm saying is that this educator were doing his job in any capacity, none of us would have to be here tonight.

Board Member: And if you were doing your job as a parent, Mr. Caufield, maybe your son would still be in school right now. He has a file in the guidance office over an inch thick.

[Applause]

Joey: Look, Principal Green is a fair man.

Mr. Caufield: I'm sure he se ms that way to you, dear, and to maybe some of the other students, whose families don't embr--

Joey: Don't what?

Mr. Caufield: Don't embrace the values that we as a community—

Dawson: [shouting] You don't know anything about her family!

Superintendent: [Gavel bangs] People! That's enough! As of this Friday at 3:00, if Principal Green has not reduced Matt Caufield's expulsion to a more reasonable sentence, I will ask him to tender his resignation.

[Cheering and applause]

Superintendent: This meeting is adjourned!

Pacey: Did what I think just happened happen? Fielding's going to railroad green into changing his ruling.

Dawson: Either that or out of town.

Pacey: Ok.

Joey: Let's go

[Opening Credits.]

[Scene: Outside the meeting hall. Sherry is doing a news report on the meeting, as Gail and others leave the meeting.]

Sherry: …We'll be expecting Green's resignation. For now this is sherry Eisler of WKWB reporting from downtown Capeside.

Gail: Hello, Sherry.

Sherry: Miss Leery. I mean Gail. It's--it's great to see you. You look terrific.

Gail: So do you. Hey, congratulations on making field reporter. That's a long way from the shy intern that I hired.

Sherry: Well, I could say I owe it all to you. The new generation of female reporters would be nowhere without veteran trailblazers like yourself.

Gail: So, uh, what's your story?

Sherry: You were inside there. Didn't you see?

Gail: I saw a bunch of out of control parents. Which, for this town, is hardly news.

Sherry: Maybe, but what about the Principal expelling a kid for the rest of the year? He sounds like a real whacko to me. Ah, we got to get going. Got a deadline to make. You remember those days. Oh. It was great seeing you, Gail.

Gail: Um you, too, Sherry.

[Scene: along the waterfront. Joey and Pacey are walking together along it.]

Joey: What happened in there was so unjust, not to mention personally demoralizing.

Pacey: You know how this system works, Jo. Convicts, mental defectives, and people under the age of 18 are routinely denied the chance to participate in decisions that affect their everyday lives.

Joey: And the problem is that the squeaky wheel gets all the grease. I mean, all these idiots rant and rave about low test scores. I mean, the people who are perfectly happy with the way things are just sit back and mind their own business.

Pacey: True. Happy, satisfied people rarely attend emergency PTA meetings.

Joey: And teenagers, I mean, come on. They'd have to be coaxed and prodded before they'd actually set down their play stations, turn off the TV, and do something about something.

Pacey: You said it, sister. So who's going to rally the troops?

Joey: Obviously nobody.

Pacey: You could.

Joey: Ha! Yeah, Joey Potter against the system. What am I going to do, paint another mural? That'll help.

[Scene: Inside Joey's house. She is on the phone with AJ talking about the meeting.]

Joey: I don't even know why I bothered to go. I mean, it was a total waste of time. There were barely any students there, and I got out 2 sentences before I was attacked.

AJ: Joey, you can't just expect people to rally around a cause that doesn't exist. They need leadership. They need—

Joey: That's what Pacey said.

AJ: Pacey? What kind of a name is Pacey?

[Bessie comes into the room to get her attention.]

Bessie: I think you're going to want to see this.

Joey: I'm on the phone.

Bessie: No, really. I think you're going to want to see this.

[She goes into the room where they are watching the television report of the meeting.]

Sherry: Safe schools, but at what cost? Concerned parents demanded actions and answers tonight from Capeside school superintendent Byron Fielding. The uproar started when a high school girl painted a mural that was intended to bring unity. Instead, all it brought was discord and the potential resignation of a high school principal under siege. Howard Green has thus far refused to comment publicly on his controversial decision to expel Matt Caufield, a senior, accused of vandalizing the so-called unity mural and fighting with another boy who took exception to the prank. The other boy was let off with only community service, leading some in this community to question Green's motives and wonder whether he's let some kind of personal agenda affect his judgment. Joey potter, the girl who painted the mural, was present at tonight' meeting and summed it up best when she said this about Caufield's harsh punishment.

Joey on TV: This is ridiculous. This whole thing has been blown out of proportion.

Joey: I never said that.

Bessie: We believe you, sis.

Sherry: Sherry Eisler, WKWB reporting...

Joey: I mean, I said it, but not in that context. I mean, this isn't fair. This-- no one is ever going to give me the chance to say everything that I want to say.

AJ: You're right, they won't. Not unless you stand up and demand to be heard, show them you won't be ignored.

Joey: What are you suggesting?

[Scene: School Hallway. Joey is hanging signs to get people to attend a rally. Pacey sees her doing this and comes up to talk to her.]

Pacey: Well, Norma Rae, looks like you ok my advice after all.

Joey: And what advice was that?

Pacey: This meeting. Rallying the troops. I have to say, this is a big step forward for you. I mean, I'm known as the Capeside Crusader far and wide, breaking down sexual stereotypes, eradicating rogue teachers, but you, you're definitely more the rebel without the cause type. So, look, I just wanted to say don't hesitate to ask for any help that you might need, seeing that this whole thing was my idea in the first place.

Joey: You were encouraging, yes, Pacey, but this meeting wasn't hardly your idea.

Pacey: If that's the way you want to play, it's fine with me. If you want to pretend like you devised this whole call to action--

Joey: I didn't.

[They walk around the corner and AJ is there hanging some of the flyers.]

AJ: I 'm all out.

Joey: Me, too.

Pacey: Ahem!

Joey: Oh, that's right. You guys have-- you guys have never met. Um, Pacey, this is A.J. A.J., this is Pacey.

AJ: Right, the one with the peculiar name. How you doing?

[AJ and Joey are standing close to one another, and you can tell this bothers Pacey.]

Joey: A.J. Came down to help us rally up the troops.

AJ: Yeah. To give Capeside a small taste of some tried and true college protest action.

Student: Quick! Green's coming inside, and you guys got to see this.

[They step outside and there is a crowd of parents out there picketing with a camera crew taping it. Green is walking up the walkway to the door.]

[Chanting] Green too extreme! Green too extreme! Green too extreme! Green too extreme! Green too extreme! Green too extreme! Green too extreme! Green too extreme! Green too extreme!

[He comes up the to door to find Joey, Pacey, and AJ there watching this all go on as he approaches.]

Principal Green: Joey. After you.

[Scene: At the Leery restaurant. Gail and Dawson are working on getting it ready to open.]

Sherry: Concerned parents showed up at Capeside High today to express their outrage at a principal who many think has gone too far.

Gail: Thanks for helping out tonight, honey.

Dawson: Don't thank me. Thank dad. He's the one who indentured me to this servitude.

Gail: Not a moment too soon. I must say, this restaurant stuff, it's a lot more work than I expected.

Dawson: Sorry I couldn't be here any sooner.

Gail: What happened at that meeting at Joey's tonight?

Dawson: You should've seen her. Totally confident, totally inspired.

Gail: You're proud of her.

Dawson: Yeah. How can I not be? I mean, she's finally standing up for herself and fighting back the way I always knew she could. You know, I can't help but feel a part of that. She's organizing an action tomorrow outside the superintendent's office.

Gail: Well, she's got a tough road in front of her. Especially with that spokes model turned journalist misrepresenting her story.

[Dawson turns the TV off.]

Gail: You know what kills me, is to see an important story done badly simply because the person covering it has no idea how to decipher truth from popular opinion.

Dawson: Sounds like you miss it.

Gail: Yeah, I'd be lying if I said I didn't, but, hey, I got this place now. Onward and upward.

Dawson: What if... you tried to tell the real story about what's going on?

Gail: Relive my glory days as a field reporter?

Dawson: All you would need to get back in the game is a camera.

Gail: And a crew.

Dawson: In these days of digital video, a crew is one person.

Gail: Oh, and just who would my one person be?

Dawson: You do have one indentured servant at your disposal.

Gail: I don't know, honey. Even if we did this and we did it right, I can't promise the station would run it. They've made it clear many times over that my services are past their prime.

Dawson: Well, we're not doing it for the station. We're doing it for you. And for Principal Green, and for Joey.

[Scene: Outside the Superintendent's office. There are students picketing here making. Joey, Pacey, and AJ are among them. Dawson is setting up his camera while Gail gets ready for the story with Joey.]

Joey: We barely have enough people to fill a softball team, let alone change the world.

Pacey: Rome wasn't built in a day, Joey.

AJ: Thanks for doing this. Hot coffee is great for morale.

Pacey: No problem. So, where's Joey?

AJ: She's getting ready for her close-up.

AJ: Great, isn't she? A born leader.

Pacey: Ah, she's a peach, all right.

[Joey is with Gail and Dawson setting up for the interview.]

Gail: I'm going to ask you a series of questions about the nature of the protest and where the movement came from, and then I think we should concentrate--

[Sherry comes over to see them getting ready for the report.]

Sherry: Gail! What's this?

Gail: I'm doing a story on the Green situation.

Sherry: For cable?

Gail: Oh, no. Truth be told, I was thinking about submitting it to Roger at the station.

Sherry: Good luck with that. Joey, I would love to get a follow-up interview with you.

Joey: In your frosted blonde dreams, Barbie.

[Sherry leaves.]

Joey: You didn't think I was too hard on her?

Dawson: Felt about right to me.

[AJ comes over to them, with Pacey in stride.]

Joey: What is it?

Pacey: Superintendent Fielding wants to see you.

Joey: Me?

AJ: The first signs of resistance falling.

Joey: Why don't I get that feeling?

Pacey: That's because Fielding is an unscrupulous, ineffectual jerk who cares more about job security than about what anybody out here thinks. He's only going to try to threaten you, Jo. I don't think you should go in there.

Joey: [To AJ] What do you think?

AJ: I'd go.

[Scene: Inside the Superintendent's office. Joey comes in to meet with the Superintendent.]

Superintendent: Ms. Josephine Potter, correct?

Joey: Yes.

Superintendent: Have a seat. I assume you know who I am.

Joey: The man who shows up for football games and graduation.

Superintendent: I appreciate a sense of humor, though I prefer to think of my involvement in your life as a touch more personal than that. I hear you're responsible for that dissonant clamoring outside. That true?

Joey: Well, parents can picket a school, students can picket a superintendent's office.

Superintendent: Fair enough. And just what is it you intend to accomplish with this first amendment display?

Joey: Well, it's our belief that Principal Green was right in expelling Matt Caufield, and he shouldn't be forced into changing his ruling simply because--

Superintendent: No one's forcing him.

Joey: Pardon me, Dr Fielding, but you threatened to ask for his resignation—

Superintendent: That wasn't a threat. That was a direct request.

Joey: As a representative of the student body, I'm telling you what is happening to Principal Green is wrong.

Superintendent: As far as I know, all you represent is that meager handful of students out there right now. And that's it.

Joey: Well, there's more of us.

Superintendent: Oh, really?

Joey: Yeah! A lot more. In fact, we have a--a student-signed petition with 300 signatures.

Superintendent: 300?

Joey: Mm-hmm. And there's going to be a rally tomorrow night. I mean, if you think the crowd last night was vocal, you just wait until tomorrow.

Superintendent: I didn't know about this.

Joey: Make no mistake, Dr. Fielding, there's a voice that doesn't agree with what's happening here, and that voice will be heard.

Superintendent: I'm all ears. Now, I suggest that you and your friends hurry back to school before that Principal you love so dearly has to serve you with detention for cutting class.

Joey: Who's cutting class? I'm out sick with a cold.

[Scene: Principal Green's House. Principal Green has answered the door and Dawson and Gail are there.]

Principal Green: Dawson, Mrs. Leery. To what do I owe a late afternoon honor?

Dawson: We're here for your interview.

Principal Green: Interview? What interview?