For Jim Collings it is the perfect job--superintendent of schools in upscale suburbia. But then come the Sizzling Sixties, the Vietnam War their ominous backdrop. Even in staid little Arden, defiant students protest and demonstrate, get hooked on drugs, call in bomb threats, and line up with subversive groups. The heat becomes intense. Pressure shoots up a notch when malcontent Gertrude Palsgrave is elected school board president. She enlists two small-minded cohorts in her machinations. Conniving with Ralph Keffler, assistant superintendent, they make Jim's life miserable. Adding to the intrigue is Keffler's steamy romance with board member Nancy Skylar. When Jim receives a hot tip hinting at scandalous hanky-panky in high places, he sees better days ahead.