|
Eyewitnessnews.com
UPDATE:
Principal
Accused of Outing Gay Students
Did Nothing Wrong,
According to
Memphis City Schools
Statement
Contributor: Adrienne
Phillips, from the Web, May 2, 2008
MEMPHIS, TN -- A Memphis
principal is accused of outing two male, gay students at Hollis F. Price Middle
High School.
Principal Daphne Beasley is accused of ordering teachers at the school to inform
her of all heterosexual and homosexual student couples. According to the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Beasley hung the list up on the wall of
her office, in plain view of teachers and other students. Beasley is also
accused of calling the parents of gay students and telling them their son or
daughter was gay.
The ACLU also claims that two students, Nicholas and Andrew, were told they
could not study together or walk together while on school grounds.
The ACLU sent a letter to the Memphis City Schools board, demanding that Beasley
be reprimanded for her actions. They also demanded of the MCS board to
implement new policies that would prevent "these types of acts from occurring"
and to make sure all principals and staff members knew of the policies.
They want Nicholas and Andrew to be
compensated, as well as an apology issued to the two boys.
Memphis City Schools responded Thursday, May 1, via school attorneys, with the
following letter:
“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.”
aphillips@myeyewitnessnews.com
|
