Memphis, TN - Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union say Daphne Beasley, the principal of Hollis F. Price Middle College High School in South Memphis, went way beyond her role as educator.
The ACLU says in September 2007, Beasley asked her staff to give her the names of students who were couples, heterosexual and homosexual, because she wanted to keep an eye on them to cut down on public displays of affection.
She's accused of publicly posting the names of those students, including two boys, Andrew and Nicholas, who had just started dating. The ACLU says that in doing so, Beasley revealed their relationship to other students, teachers and even their parents.
In a letter sent Tuesday, April 29, 2008 to Memphis City Schools, the ACLU says the principal's actions violated the students' constitutional rights to equal protection, freedom of expression and association, due process and privacy.
"Our first reaction was wow, this is unbelievable that a principal has gone this far," says ACLU attorney Christine Sun. "The constitution protects all of us from the government intruding in our private lives when there isn't a reason to do that. This was morally and legally wrong."
One of the young men, Nicholas, an 11th grader who just made the Dean's List, spoke with Eyewitness News Everywhere.
"It was actually frightening," he says, "to see a list with my name on it where not just other teachers could see but students as well."
Nicholas says his teachers and other students treat him differently as a result of Principal Beasley's decision and that he and Andrew have both had to deal with verbal assaults. Nicholas was also not allowed to go on a trip to New Orleans to help rebuild homes because, as one of his teacher's explained, he would "embarrass" the school by engaging in gay affection.
"I really feel that my personal privacy was invaded," Nicholas says. "I mean, Principal Beasley called my mother and outed me to my mother!"
The ACLU wants the school district to create new policies that would prevent these types of acts from happening again. The group is also asking for compensation for Andrew and Nicholas and for an apology from the principal.
And the final demand from the ACLU says attorney Sun: "Some sort of reprimand to the principal because this type of thing should not be happening at any school."
Eyewitness News Everywhere requested a response from MCS. Van Davis Turner Jr., the associate general counsel for the Memphis City Schools Board of Education, released the following statement: "We take all allegations of invasion of privacy and discrimination seriously. At this time, we have not completed our internal investigation of this matter. Once we have completed our investigation, we will submit a formal response to the ACLU, directly addressing the issue. We look forward to working with the ACLU to amicably resolve this matter, if possible."
The ACLU wants a reply from MCS by Friday, May 9th or legal action will be pursued.
Hollis F. Price Middle College High School opened in 2004 in a collaborative effort with LeMoyne Owen College. Students can earn a high school diploma and two years of college credit. About 150 kids are enrolled right now in grades 9 through 12.
Click here to visit the ACLU website and to read the letter sent to Memphis City School board members.
UPDATE: Memphis City Schools released a statement via school attorneys regarding the situation on Thursday, May 1, 2008:
“Memphis City Schools is committed to providing its students with the best possible learning environment. Hollis F. Price Middle College is an accelerated high school, which is located on the historically black LeMoyne-Owen College campus. Eligible students may enroll in college classes in pursuit of completing the first two years of college while attending this high school.
Because we have high school students on a college campus, we have to carefully monitor the activities of our students. We are at all times
proactive in assuring that our students are provided a safe, nurturing and disciplined learning climate. Unfortunately, in fall 2007, we received numerous complaints from LeMoyne-Owen College faculty and staff that some of our student couples were involved in explicit sexual behavior in public view on the college campus.
In light of this information from LeMoyne-Owen faculty and staff, the principal of Hollis F. Price made several general announcements to the student body that this behavior would not be tolerated. Regrettably, the improper behavior continued. Therefore, the principal felt it appropriate to notify the parents of those children she knew to be involved romantically. This was done in an effort to gain the support of the parents in reinforcing the message that such behavior is in violation of Memphis City Schools’ Student Code of Conduct. The principal did not list any information other than students’ names on her personal call list, and she certainly did not specify the sexual orientation of any student. Additionally, the list was never posted publicly anywhere at the school.
It is the position of Memphis City Schools that the principal did act in an appropriate manner in order to correct a serious issue at the school and that Memphis City Schools has not subjected either of these students to
discriminatory treatment.
In the coming days, we will submit a formal response to the ACLU. We look forward to working with them to amicably resolve this matter.”
What do you think? It's your turn to Speak Up! Memphis.
