A popular and beloved teacher, Mr. McMahon, has a heart attack and dies at school. A close friend of the deceased, Principal Harper overcomes his own grief to help his students cope with the loss. To make matters worse, it appears that McMahon had been having an affair with a female senior, Karen Fitzgerald.

While Harper struggles to deal with the incident's aftermath and maintain status quo, the students and faculty begin to fall apart. A defiant pupil, Webster, spits on Lauren and she vows to have him expelled. The case becomes more complex, however, when Harper learns that Webster was close to Mr. McMahon and is extremely upset over his death. A disciplinary hearing is held and it's decided that Webster will only be suspended, much to Lauren's disgust.

Meanwhile, the distraught students hold an assembly to deal with their confusion. The kids quickly embrace God as the answer and their meeting turns into a mass prayer rally.

Eventually, Harper and Guber look into McMahon's alleged af

Life seems to be one big lawsuit for Principal Harper. First, Mrs. Walsh, who was fired for spanking her students, sues for wrongful termination. Then, after Harper suspends Sheryl Holt for offensive content on her Web site, she sues to get the suspension overturned. Guber's brother, George, is representing Winslow High, but can't seem to defend himself against Guber. George set Guber up on a blind date with a touchy-feely masseuse, only for Guber to discover (mid-massage) that she's a call girl! Lauren isn't much luckier in love. Things are going well with Senate, but holt45.com has exclusive footage of them making out. Seems Sheryl wanted some retaliation for her suspension. Plus, Lauren gets knocked out by a launched breast implant. A female student had implant samples in her locker and her boyfriend thought it would be funny to launch one. Lauren was in the wrong hallway at the wrong time, and has the black eye to prove it. While Marylin counsels the girl on her self-image, Lauren

Buttle encounters a beautiful college sophomore, Lisa, who shares his passion for Shakespeare. Intrigued by his knowledge of the bard, Lisa decides to sleep with Buttle and the two engage in an afternoon of earth-shattering sex.

Back at Winslow High, Senate learns that Juan Figgis' mother has been convicted on drug charges and is going to jail. Determined to provide for his family, Juan ignores Senate's pleas to finish his education and drops out of school to support them.

Meanwhile, Lipschultz collapses in class and is rushed to the hospital. A student, Kelly O'Toole, comes forward and confesses that she slipped ecstasy into his coffee as a joke. Harper decides to play hardball - he calls the cops, who take Kelly away in handcuffs, and then proceed to search the lockers.

Senate struggles to do the right thing concerning Juan and calls Social Services, who break up the family. Realizing that he did more damage than good, Senate begins a foundation to raise money to keep Figgis in schoo

Coach Riley has a serious crush on Marylin Sudor but is nervous about asking her out due to their racial differences. But when he and Buttle ask Ms. Sudor how she and Ms. Hendricks feel about dating white men, Marylin mistakenly assumes Coach wants to ask Marla out. Riley's ""infatuation"" with Marla appears on Sheryl Holt's Web site and Ms. Hendricks becomes extremely excited about the prospect of dating Coach.

Eventually, Kevin tells Marylin the truth and she is forced to break the news to Marla, who is deeply hurt. While Kevin and Marylin do make plans to eventually go out, they decide to wait until Marla has gotten over her disappointment.

Meanwhile, Harper is concerned about the cheerleading squad. They have been rehearsing for an important competition, but their new routine is extremely sexual. The choreographer argues that it's impossible to tone down the program, so Harper cancels the meet.

Regardless of the consequences, Lisa and Buttle continue to tempt fate and continue their

Security tapes of the girls' shower room are missing... with footage of Lauren on them. Marla sends her entire class to the principal's office. Anthony's hit list is found. Lauren and Harry break up.

A wealthy attorney decides to become a teacher at the school—quickly stirring things up between her fellow teachers and the students. Meanwhile, Lipshultz gets into trouble after giving a student the wrong name and Marla is enlisted to sponsor a club of female students, which causes her to examine her own insecurity.

Senate is outraged when he learns that one of his prized students was admitted to Williams College because he bought his college application essay over the Internet. Also, Lipschultz calls a student a derogatory term and new teacher Danny Hanson wants him held accountable, but Harper refuses. Hanson goes to Ronnie for legal help, and his class decides to sue Lipschultz in court for defamation of character.

Ronnie and Danny discover that Brooke is dating a 27 year old man and report it to Steven. Steven is outraged at this discovery and demands Brooke stop seeing him. She disagrees at first but the next morning, her boyfriend Rupert reports to Steven that the two have broken up. Brooke later debates leaving Winslow High but Steven convinces her not to.After Harry getting sick of his students being considered dumb, he challenges Guber to a debate in preperation for a big upcoming debate for Scott's debate team. He accepts and the two teams practice to no end. When it comes debate time, both teams deliver but Scott's team comes out victourious but only by three points.

A student's illness rattles Senate, who's haunted by feelings of futility; a teen's eating disorder upsets Lauren, who's also unnerved by an web site advocating anorexia.

Lauren and Marilyn investigate a student who seems to be eating her own hair. Danny is discovered having sent letters home to the ""over-weight"" girls in his class after he is punched a girl who receives one of these letters. Marla goes to Steven and Scott about this issue, asking that he be fired. Meanwhile, Scott and Steven are continuing to have personality conflicts regarding leadership.

Jamal Crenshaw's brother, Amaad, murders a store clerk and soon after, Jamal confides in Harry. Harry takes it to Ronnie, a past lawyer, who believes that Jamal's best bet is to turn himself in. However, when he doesn't; Harry and Ronnie do. Later on, Amaad comes to visit Harry at Winslow High and when things get out of hand, Harry calls the police. But before he can give them any details, he is stabbed by Amaad; three times.

Staff and students at Winslow High struggle to get on with their lives after a number of tragic events.

Senate's erratic behavior rattles Ronnie and prompts a telling showdown with Harper; pupil misconduct provokes a new teacher, whose youth belies grit.