30. Wayside School is Falling Down

"Wayside School is Falling Down" is the 30th and final chapter of the book Wayside School is Falling Down.

Plot
A strong wind whooshes around the playground the early morning before school, blowing dirt and leaves in the faces of the children. With every gust of wind the school building teetered one way, then tottered back the other. As the children head up the stairs, they can feel the building sway back and forth, swaying the higher they go up. Kathy yells "Hooray!" and tells the others that Wayside School is falling down. Joe asks her "What are you so happy about?" and reminds her that if the school fell down they would all die, but Kathy replies at least they wouldn't have to do their homework.

When they reach their class on the thirtieth story, their teacher, Mrs. Jewels, rings her cowbell and orders them to find their seats. However, this wasn't easy, as all the desks were crammed together on one side of the room and slid to the other side whenever the building swayed again. Finally, the children all find their seats and plant their feet firmly on the floor. Mrs. Jewels announces to her students that they are going to have a fire drill that day, and asks who the door monitor that week is.

Maurecia says she is, and Mrs. Jewels asks who the help monitor is. Jason says that he is, and Stephen raises his hand. He asks "What if there really is a fire?" and Mrs. Jewels explains that there isn't going to be a real fire, because it is just a drill. But Stephen asks what if there unexpectedly was a fire, and the firemen won't come because they will think it's a drill. Kathy assures him the school is not going to burn down because she thinks it will fall down instead. The fire drill alarm goes off, so Maurecia runs to the door and holds it open. Jason runs to the window and screams "Help!" to the ground below.

Mrs. Jewels leads the children out of the classroom. If there was a real fire, the children might not be able to see their teacher because of the smoke, so she constantly rang her cowbell strapped around her neck. Because there wouldn't be enough time to go all the way down the stairs, she leads them to the trapdoor leading to the roof instead. If there was an actual fire, helicopters would arrive and rescue them.