Lynn board may end ties with Gordon

LYNN – Severing ties with Gordon College will not be easy, but a number of School Committee members believe it may be inevitable in the wake of the liberal arts school’s decision to seek an exception to federal law regarding sexual orientation.”I hope we don’t have to, but we may,” said School Committee member Charlie Gallo. “If Gordon College doesn’t change its mind, I’m afraid we will have to seek another school or college to partner with.”The president of the Wenham Christian college was among 14 religious leaders who sent a letter to the White House asking for a religious exemption to a planned order barring federal contractors from discriminating in hiring on the basis of sexual orientation. As a result, Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll announced the city would cut ties with school, and Lynn is considering following suit.Gallo admitted it’s a different situation for Lynn. Gordon’s tie to Salem is a single contract to manage one building. In Lynn the tie goes a little deeper. The college has a partnership with Harrington Elementary that has been extended to Cobbet. Just last week, plans were announced that include third-, fourth- and fifth-graders from both schools taking part in a college access program that has Lynn students attending classes and taking part in a mini graduation session.Gallo said dozens of Gordon College education majors have gotten their practice teaching in Lynn classrooms. He also said he has reached out to the college’s president but has yet to speak with him.Committee member Rick Starbard said despite the hardship it may cause, “I do think it’s something worth discussing.”Starbard said he has a difficult time believing that any public institution, particularly an educational institution, would make the decision Gordon College has.”In this day and age, I’m just kind of surprised they would do that … I can’t believe they took that stance,” he said.Children are taught in Lynn Public Schools not to discriminate, said School Committee member Donna Coppola.”I think this was a bad judgment, and it’s surely in conflict with any federal money we get,” she added.If the committee does cut ties, it could affect programming, Starbard said, but Gordon’s decision to discriminate doesn’t dovetail with the fact that as a public school system, they are accepting of everyone.”We recently changed our policy to match up with the states,” he added. “If you have those views, you shouldn’t be playing in the public pool.”Committee member John Ford echoed his colleagues.”I think what they did was wrong,” he said. “I think it is definitely something we will have to take a good, hard look at,” he said.Gallo attempted to raise the issue during the committee’s July 10 meeting, and Starbard supported the motion but they were struck down only because it wasn’t on the agenda.Starbard said Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy didn’t believe the situation was an emergency and that the discussion could wait for the next meeting.Kennedy said she has put the issue on the agenda for the Aug. 28 meeting, which is the committee’s next scheduled meeting.”I definitely hope it can be resolved,” said Coppola. “The students who do student teaching would lose out on that opportunity, and I would hate to see that happen because one person made a bad judgment. It always comes back on the kids.”