Chapter 24 - The New RulesWestbridge changed policies the following school year.
Teachers could temporarily confiscate prohibited devices according to written procedure.
Every confiscated device had to be logged.
Stored securely.
Returned according to policy.
No teacher could transfer student property to another student.
Physical punishment was explicitly prohibited.
Complaints involving alleged adult contact with a student automatically triggered review outside the building administration.
Secure assessments received stricter access controls.
Foundation conflicts had to be publicly disclosed.
Procurement oversight moved to a separate district office.
Cameron read the policy.
“Most of this seems obvious.”
Principal Park smiled sadly.
“Many important rules exist because something obvious failed.”
She had kept her job after an external review found she had not participated in the corruption but had relied too heavily on Vance.
She accepted formal criticism.
She did not defend herself publicly.
At an assembly, she said:
“I believed experience was the same as trustworthiness. It isn’t.”
Cameron respected that.
Then she announced a student advisory committee.
Cameron refused at first.
“I don’t want to spend another year being Phone Boy.”
Laura laughed.
“That name is terrible.”
“Tessa invented it.”
Eventually Cameron agreed on one condition.
He would not be used in promotional material.
No heroic posters.
No district video about resilience.
He wanted ordinary work.
Policies.
Feedback.
Anonymous reporting.
Brayden joined too.
That caused controversy.
Cameron supported him.
“Who knows how favoritism breaks rules better?”
Brayden stared.
“That sounded like an insult.”
“It was both.”
The committee’s first debate was about phones in classrooms.
Some students wanted no restrictions.
Teachers wanted stronger restrictions.
Cameron surprised everyone.
“Phones can absolutely disrupt class.”
Brayden laughed.
Mrs. Donovan’s original sentence echoed in Cameron’s head.
Using a phone in class is against the rules.
She had not been wrong about that.
The hypocrisy came afterward.
Cameron continued:
“Rules aren’t the problem. Rules that change depending on who your mother is are.”
That became the committee’s guiding principle.
Same rule.
Same process.
Document exceptions.
No secret favors.
Simple ideas.
Harder to practice.
At the end of the meeting, Principal Park handed Cameron a small evidence envelope.
“What’s this?”
“Officer Ruiz cleared it for return.”
Inside was Phone A.
The blue-and-black case was scratched.
The device still worked.
Cameron held it.
Mrs. Donovan had said:
I confiscated it permanently.
Nine months later, it was back in his hand.
He smiled.
May you like
Not because it was expensive.
Because it was his.
