“Back in my day the High School Assistant Principal was the one with the large paddle mounted on the wall behind his desk. (You know, the one with “speed holes” drilled in it...)”
Yep, in those days the principal was just a figurehead/administrator. The The Asst. Principal was the schools “enforcer”, the badazz disciplinarian that kept your butt on the straight and narrow.
Our 10th grade assistant principal thought Nietzsche was spelled “Vichi” and the books were in the “liberry.”