Love List

Pity the poor principal. She's got a really tough job. There are so many vital parts to it, so many things to keep track of. Like--the list of high school couples. Requires constant updating!

You don't think it's essential to keep track of the romantic lives of your students? That apparently puts you at odds with the Memphis, Tennessee, school board and Principal Daphne Beasley of Hollis F. Price Middle College High School, which operates in collaboration with LeMoyne Owen College to let students earn a high school diploma plus two years of college credit.

According to the Memphis administration, Principal Beasley got complaints from the college that students were engaging in "explicit sexual behavior in public view" on campus. She warned her charges that this sort of thing was forbidden, but the complaints continued. So, ever resourceful, she asked her faculty to send her the names of all student couples, and started calling their parents, asking them to back up her admonitions.

The list included two boys named Nicholas and Andrew. "Principal Beasley called my mother and outed me to my mother!" said Nicholas in an interview with a local TV station.

She also posted the list on her office wall, where apparently students and staff could see it. Nicholas said he and Andrew have had to endure verbal abuse since the list went up.

As if the beleaguered principal's To Do list wasn't long enough, now she may have to make time to respond to a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union, which claims she invaded the students' privacy.

But so far, she's enjoying solid support from her superiors in the school administration.