There was no day of the week more exciting. At the sound of the bell, more than five hundred children poured outside their brick-building classrooms at the ringing of the final bell, eager to get home and get ready for the weekend. A line of vehicles idled along the parent pickup lane, just past the school flagpole and bike rack. At the bus loop, school buses spewed exhaust into the air, waiting with their doors open and drivers at the wheel. Students dispersed into different groups—some toward the bus loop, others toward their parent pickup. Janitorial staff entered the recently vacated classrooms with loaded pushcarts, ready to get to work. While the majority of students left without looking back, one nine-year-old girl, Jenny Dawson, stayed behind to help her fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Ramsey, clean up for the day. Jenny’s mother was running behind, and she was in no rush to leave. She lived close to the school but was forbidden from riding the bus or walking home. Jenny vented her frustrations to her teacher while wiping a large Dry-Erase board.
