Aug 12, 2008 9:05 pm US/Eastern
Gloucester High School Principal Resigns
Cites Lack Of Respect In Wake Of Pregnancy Pact Furor
GLOUCESTER (WBZ) ―
The principal of Gloucester High School, quoted in a Time magazine story as saying several girls at the school had planned together to get pregnant, has resigned.
Joseph M. Sullivan resigned effective Friday in a letter to school Superintendent Christopher Farmer. Sullivan said he would retire from public school administration at the same time.
"I have not been forced or pressured to make this decision," Sullivan said in a
statement obtained by wbztv.com. "It is mine alone and it is irrevocable."
The Time story created nationwide headlines in June when it reported the existence of a "pact" among several high school girls to get pregnant. Seventeen pregnancies were reported among high school girls during the school year, compared with four the year before.
The city became the butt of late-night jokes and was crudely mocked during the July 4 Horribles Parade in neighboring Beverly.
Sullivan subsequently said he did not remember using the word "pact," but essentially stood behind the story.
In the days after the article appeared, Mayor Carolyn Kirk met with city, school and health officials and then told a news conference there was "absolutely no evidence" of a pregnancy pact.
Sullivan was not invited to that meeting. Kirk said she was not comfortable having him there because she had not been able to verify his remarks to Time.
In his statement, Sullivan said Kirk "publicly slandered by reputation, my integrity and my intelligence" at that news conference.
"The Mayor's actions and the Superintendent's public silence (have) forced me to recognize that I have neither the trust, confidence or respect of the Mayor nor the Superintendent," Sullivan said in his statement.
"My instinctive reaction to this realization has been to soldier on, but I have too much respect for myself, my family, the school, the students, the faculty and the staff to continue."
Sullivan said the effects of the furor on himself and his family have been devastating. He said he was forced to move out of his house to avoid news reporters and harassing phone calls.
He also said he has yet to speak with Kirk since the story appeared in Time.
Kirk issued a brief statement Tuesday wishing Sullivan "all the best."
Sullivan spent 10 years as Gloucester High School principal.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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