Vision Statement of Memphis City Schools

We must create and operate schools that equip ALL children with the academic skills and habits of mind that will prepare them for the future- a future in which they can and will become contributing, productive citizens and human beings. We must accomplish this vision despite pervasive conditions of poverty and social conditions that fail to give our children the experiences, role models and hope that will encourage and motivate them to succeed.

Purpose of the Pupil Services Center

The Pupil Services Center was created to fulfill a of variety services within the Memphis City Schools. These duties include, but are not limited to a) assigning students to a school upon re-entry from various agencies and from students coming from other districts, b) hearing student disciplinary appeals, c) assisting students with safety transfers, and d) counseling students about educational options, and helping students find alternative education options when traditional schools are not meeting their individual needs.

PSC -The Law and the Due Process Clause

The Tennessee Annotated Code (TCA) mandates that each school district provide an impartial venue to address student disciplinary issues. The Pupil Services Center (PSC) provides that venue. In addition to other duties, the hearing officers at the PSC are charged with making sure that the rights of students and parents are respected, rules and consequences are applied equally and fairly, and that Due Process is not violated.

The Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution is a guarantee of basic fairness. No person may be deprived of life, liberty, property, and as is the case with MCS- education, without due process of the law. That means that no student can be dismissed arbitrarily from school for disciplinary or academic reasons. Procedures must be followed, and student and parents must be allowed the right to participate and defend themselves against charges in a meaningful way. The staff of the PSC contributes to the mandate of Due Process by producing and subsequently monitoring the protocols. Hearing Officers at the Pupil Services Center conference with students and parents to examine all evidence presented against the student, and to allow parents and students the opportunity to tell their side of the story. Appeal decisions are based on policy, what is best for the student; while not compromising the rights of students or the Pupil Services Center’s support for good discipline in schools.

Directions

There is no greater crime than to stand between a man and his development; to take any law or institution and put it around him like a collar, and fasten it there, so that as he grows and enlarges, he presses against it till he suffocates and dies. - Henry Ward Beecher

Memphis City Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, handicap/disability, sex or age.

page master- Dr. Kimberly L.Dillihunt