I visited The Walker School recently at the invitation of Headmaster Don Robertson. Unless you spent Christmas on the moon, you are aware of the infamous party last Dec. 22 where a group of Walker students were cited for underage drinking by Cobb County police at the home of Diane Busch, a municipal court judge at the time, now under indictment for a host of questionable decisions. It was not The Walker School's finest hour because of the way the matter was handled subsequently by politicians and parents who should have known what their kids were up to at 3 a.m.

If I was looking for a spirited defense of the debacle and of the characters involved, I didn't get it from the headmaster. In fact, I found him refreshingly candid regarding the incident.

Given the grief Diane Busch has brought to the school - not to mention to herself, to state Sen. John Wiles (R-Kenn.), who got involved when he shouldn't have and whose future political career is most likely toast, to the young man on a baseball scholarship at Rice University, to the police and to the judicial system - it is ironic that the headmaster says he has only met Busch once. Sen. Wiles' wife, Janel, is a member of the board of trustees.

Robertson told me he was not aware of what had taken place at Busch's home until after the holidays when he returned to school and rumors swirled about the party. While he was assembling information, someone tipped off the Marietta Daily Journal and it was downhill from there.

Once he got the straight scoop, Robertson says he immediately sent out a notice to parents. He told them, "It is assumed that we are aware of everything that happens. This is not the case. It is impossible to monitor our students during holidays, weekends and over the summer when they are off campus."

Robertson says that many times he finds out about inappropriate activities involving his students from parents who call to see that school officials are informed. Wiles, Diane Busch and the other parents involved that evening would have been well-served to have had the headmaster's phone number on their speed dial. He and I agree that a sincere apology from the participants might have saved everyone a lot of headaches.

The headmaster isn't giving the kids a free pass. "Even when students are not in our care, we don't ignore unacceptable behavior. Underage use of alcohol is a major violation of school rules." The school has an honor system and discipline court manned by a combination of students and faculty. Robertson says that they are going to strengthen the rules of behavior going forward and that includes the possibility of holding parents more responsible for the actions of their children on and off campus.

Robertson says parents need to be aware of where their children are and what they are doing.

"I have one parent," he says, "who calls the family where his daughter is scheduled to spend the night and makes sure he knows what the host's plans are for the evening. It embarrasses his daughter but he is doing her a favor by checking. I wish more parents would do that."

Despite the perception that The Walker School is an elite institution, Robertson, who has been headmaster for 24 years, says the place is more blue-collar than blue-blood. "In many cases," he says, "both parents work in order that their child can have the best education we can give them."

He notes proudly that every Walker graduate is accepted to college each year. Last year graduates were admitted to the U.S. Military Academy, Naval Academy and Air Force Academy.

As I was leaving, I saw a sign on the headmaster's bookshelf that said, "Results, not excuses." Robertson says it belonged to his late father and was the way he was raised by parents who expected the former from him, not the latter.

That sign should be tattooed on the forehead of the shallow-thinking parents and self-important politicians - and their attorneys - who have tried to excuse all that went wrong at The Christmas Party From Hell. Clearly, they have done The Walker School a great disservice.

You can reach Dick Yarbrough at yarb2400@bellsouth.net or P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139.