My wife Brenda is a Spanish teacher at our local private art college. It is a nice two-year school in a wealthy community, with well-behaved students and a supportive group of parents. The school is tailored for high school graduates, with unique talents in the arts: acting, painting, languages, sculpture, and music. The school gives a number of scholarships to lower income young men and women. The students test their talents to see if they are suited for further study at one of the prestigious universities around the country. My wife is 38 years old and has taught there for about twelve years. She loves working with the students and the job provides fair pay and good benefits.
We have two lovely children and a nice home. We have been doing fine financially and life has been treating us good. As events unfolded, she was about to be faced with a very difficult decision relating to her personal and professional ethics as well as the meaning of our marriage vows.
A year ago, the school was hit with a crisis. Mold was found in some of the ductwork; a few students got sick, there were lawsuits, etcetera. The school used up most of its endowment and had taken a big loan to pay for the multi-million-dollar remediation work. They survived it okay, and enrollment and such had rebounded nicely. But with the financial pinch, the school was living on the edge. Another crisis could put them under. When they were faced with a need for another $300,000 for roof repairs after a storm, they were in trouble. They also needed to buy new equipment to keep up with emerging technology for the classrooms. The alumni, parents and the school leadership decided to have a fund-raising campaign. There were a lot of well-heeled alumni, who pitched in, but the school was still having trouble meeting their loan payments. The possibility of closing the school, greatly reducing scholarships or cutting programs were all real possibilities.