| Harper at Home
Harper gets a message from his ex-wife to meet her at
their daughter's private school, where Brooke may have possibly killed someone.
He is quite put out when they arrive and discover that the deceased is
only a goat, after the phone call led him
to believe
 otherwise.
The animal was the school mascot which his daughter had "freed" from its cage.
Harper is angered that the incident leads to her expulsion and complains
to her principal that it was unwarranted. He is shocked when he
discovers the long list of incidents leading up to the "straw which
broke the camel's back." Lauren commiserates with him
that evening over the situation.
Stephen finally confides in her as to why he and his
wife separated. "Too many early mornings and late nights"
kept them apart; his job ate his time up and he was not home enough.
Being principal was draining him and he needed someone to be there
for him at home, but all he got when there was anger and
resentment.
Harper and his wife meet with the principal of his
daughter's school to discuss the situation which Stephen handles like a
principal, not a parent.  Afterwards, they
argue about
their daughter's situation and it is obvious that Harper still sees her as his little girl rather
than a growing teen. It's a hard lesson for him to learn but he's
beginning to realize that his role as a father is changing. The
school decides to uphold the expulsion despite Harper's efforts, so he and his
ex-wife decide to enroll Brooke at Boston Public. This
is a recipe for trouble as father and daughter begin to battle with the
parent/child--principal/student roles. Harper thinks other
students may use her relationship with him to influence decisions in the
school, beginning with the sexually-charged school newspaper.
Certainly I can see a whole new role for Harper in the future as his
daughter is added to the mix.
The case of Lipshultz vs students
With the case pending in court,  Scott decides to defend
Harvey himself in order to save the school money.  Harvey tells
Ronnie she's two-faced for helping the students put a case together
against another faculty member.
Debbie, one of Danny's students, is chosen to prosecute the case against
Harvey. She is very concerned and not sure if she's ready to do
something so "big" but Danny encourages her and eventually
she agrees. She is very powerful, prepared and sure of herself in
court. When the day comes Scott makes some good arguments stating
that no one is "defending"
Harvey; his actions were
inexcusable. But he does make the point that suing over
this issue
is not the way to  handle it,
as there was in fact no damage done.
Debbie argues for putative
damages but the judge disagrees that there will
be damage even in the distant future. Harvey wins that round and looks smug
walking the halls the next day, but it's obvious Guber has a bad taste in
his mouth about this one.
Shakespeare visits Ronnie's room
 With the discussion of Shakespeare deepening in Ronnie's
classroom a student claims that he was no better than any other writer who
adds sex to a story to attract an audience. They seem to really dislike
 Shakespeare.
While she talks about the problem with her boyfriend he
offers to come to the school and perform for the class. She is
reluctant to allow him to do so because she's afraid the students won't
appreciate the effort and laugh at him. This only makes him want to
expose them to Shakespeare all the
more so they can appreciate a true
master. When the time come for the performance he pulls a fast one
on Ronnie and instead of just performing a scene, he decides to sing the
love song from the 1969 rendition of Romeo and Juliet. Of
course the kids laugh. And so does Ronnie. She tries not to, but it's
just a bit too comical.
Marla's ongoing Battle of the Bulge
In another attempt validate herself, Marla takes on the
crusade of jun k
food vending machines in the
school. She feels that they 
offer too many bad choices like soda in the school, therefore contributing
to obesity. When she brings it up with Guber he tells her that
though it's a questionable decision the
school makes thousands of dollars each year on the machines. Scott also tells her
that if she picked and fought her battles better she might
be heard.
Marla has also gotten on the bad side of "the
hook lady" who, when she meets with Guber for supper,  even suggests that
he fire the Social Studies teacher because she is mentally 
imbalanced. (Look who's
talking). Could this be the beginning of the end for Marla?
Extra! Extra! Read All About It!
The sneaker lady (now a
smut-boot lady) comes to the office in the morning and complains about the school newsletter's
 sex
column. Later in the day a group of parents also come to school to complain about the "ask Helen" column,
but Harper isn't there. Louisa tells them that they should consider
the article health advice, helping students find a way to avoid teenage
pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
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