DR. WALLACE: I found your list of important school employees very interesting, but flawed. You said that teachers were most important, and I agree. As least important, you listed the principal, and I can agree with that. But I disagree with all of your other "important" personnel on the list being listed before the school secretary.

No school could function without a secretary. Who is the first person who must deal with irate parents? The secretary! Who is the person who takes care of important phone calls? The secretary. Who is the person who is designated in charge when the principal is off campus? The secretary. Who is the person who has to bandage scraped knees when the nurse is absent? The secretary. Who is the person who must make sure that classes are covered whenever a teacher has an emergency? The secretary.

Please be more kind to the most important member of a school's staff next to the teacher. — Secretary, Bakersfield, Calif.

SECRETARY: I wasn't forgetting the importance of the school secretary when I placed this invaluable team member after the cafeteria manager (a school functions on its stomach), but before the head custodian (who fixes the electrical problem when the campus goes dark? The head custodian). But in my next rating of school personnel, I will be sure to evaluate the school secretary more generously. (Who gives a student money to buy lunch when he forgets it? The secretary.)

For those principals who were upset and contacted me because I said that principals were least important: Of course, principals make important decisions and are responsible to see that all certificated staff members perform in concert so students receive a quality education. But when they are at principal meetings away from campus, their schools function properly in their absence.

TWO YEARS IS A LONG TIME BETWEEN VISITS

DR. WALLACE: Nick and I dated for over a year and we really were a great couple. We had a lot in common and enjoyed the same activities. When my dad got a new job and we moved over 400 miles away, we were both devastated. We are both 16 and probably won't see each other for a couple of years when we will be 18. We decided to remain faithful to each other, and he calls me once a week and we write letters often. I keep busy with my studies and school activities.

After Christmas I started attending my best friend's church and went to a youth conference with her last month. Now I've met a lot of new friends at the church and one of them is a really nice guy who asked me to go out with him. I told him I'd think about it, but I didn't tell him about Nick.

I've been thinking this over, and I've decided that I would like to go out with this guy, but I still care about Nick. Please tell me what I should do, and hurry! — Amber, Uniontown, Pa.

AMBER: Contact Nick and tell him you care for him very much, but feel it would be better if you both dated others and became active in high school activities. The plain fact is that two years is too long a time between visits. You don't need to volunteer the fact that you've been asked out, but if he asks, be honest.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. E-mail him at rwallace@galesburg.net. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.