The June party of Bayard Rustin Educational Complex was a boat ride on New York City's East River. Elsie danced with the principal. Everyone thought that was funny because they'd been fighting all year. He wanted her out of the school and she wanted to stay. Elsie and the author had been at this school almost 20 years, through seven principals. The city declared their school a failure, but a battle of statistics had postponed their closing.