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Sorting rules

In order of priority. A rule higher on the list is never given up for one lower down — when two cannot both hold, you are asked, or the card and the Decision Log say what gave way.
Always
  1. 1.Every teacher request is honoured. You are asked only when a teacher asks for the same person twice, when meeting both teachers who asked for them means the person leaves their group for one meeting, or when a request and trans grouping cannot both hold.
  2. 2.Everyone meets the set number of times, on different days.
  3. 3.Newer retreatants meet on the earlier day of each pair of days.
  4. 4.The same group meets together each time — only the teacher changes — unless you approve a change for a teacher's request.
  5. 5.Each person meets a different teacher at each meeting, unless you choose the same teacher for every meeting, approve a teacher meeting someone twice, or there are more meetings than teachers.
  6. 6.Group sizes stay near the target. One over or one under is normal and is not mentioned. A group further out than that says so on its card and in the Decision Log. A group that would be left with two or fewer people is put to you before you see the board.
  7. 7.People who came to the retreat together are put in different groups. If that cannot be done, the card and the Decision Log say so.
As far as the roster allows
  1. 8.Trans retreatants sit together, with non-binary and LGBTQ+ retreatants in the seats beside them.
  2. 9.Nobody is the only BIPOC person, the only LGBTQ+ person, the only gender-diverse person, the only man or the only woman in their group. After the sort, the rescue step moves the fewest people needed to fix any that remain, and says who moved. Anyone still alone is named on their card.
  3. 10.Experience is measured by the gap between a group's most and least experienced levels — new, 1–3 retreats, 4–10 and 10+, so the gap runs from 0 to 3. A gap of 0 is preferred: as many groups as possible hold a single level, and where that can't be had, the gap is kept as small as possible. A gap of 1 is fine and nothing is said about it. A gap of 2 or 3 happens only for a reason — a teacher's request, trans grouping, keeping people who came together apart, or keeping someone from being the only one of something — and the card and the Decision Log say which. Group size is never changed to fix an experience problem.
  4. 11.Ages within a group are kept as close as possible, after experience. Age is not a way of being alone.