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GHS Principal Sullivan resigns(Gloucester Daily Times, Mass. Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 29--Joseph M. Sullivan, the Gloucester High School principal who became a central figure in news coverage spotlighting the 18 pregnancies reported a the high school this past year, has resigned, saying he believes the actions of Mayor Carolyn Kirk and Superintendent of Schools Christopher Farmer this summer have undermined his ability to lead the school effectively. Sullivan, a 35-year educator who has served as the high school principal since 1998, submitted his resignation through a letter addressed to Farmer that was dated Monday and obtained by the Times shortly after 4:30 p.m. today. He told the superintendent in a two-sentence statement that he was resigning effective Aug. 15 -- this Friday -- and would be "retiring from public school administration as of the same date." In a related statement -- forwarded to the Times through the offices of Gloucester attorney J. Michael Faherty -- Sullivan said he felt the mayor "publicly slandered my reputation, my integrity and my intelligence" in a press conference called to address the spike in teen pregnancies. "Since then," he wrote, "neither the superintendent nor any member of the School Committee has publicly come to my defense. Moreover, I have not been consulted with respect to any of the proposed high school or school administration responses to the teen pregnancy issues at the high school. "...Without the mayor's and superintendent's unqualified support," he wrote, "the already difficult and challenging job of being the high school principal becomes next to impossible. I have therefore submitted by resignation as high school principal effective Aug. 15, 2008." When an apparent spike in pregnancies first surfaced at the school in March -- with reports of 10 in the current school year, up from a norm of three or four -- Sullivan had been among those who said there were indications that at least some of the pregnancies were intentional. As someone who opposed any school effort to dispense contraceptives to students without parents' knowledge, Sullivan noted that, given the students' intent, contraceptives would not have been a solution in Gloucester's case. By June, after growing debate over that issue sparked the resignation of the school health clinic's director and chief nurse practitioner -- and amid the Times and other reports that the overall number of pregnancies at the school had risen to 17 -- a Time magazine reporter interviewed Sullivan and reported that at least some of the girls had formed a "pregnancy pact." That report sparked national and global media coverage, though neither local officials nor the girls who have since spoken publicly have said that any such "pact" existed. Sullivan has also since indicated he does not recall ever using the term "pact" in the Time magazine interview, but has stood by his position that at least some of the girls had intended to get pregnant. In a June 23 City Hall press conference, Mayor Kirk said that neither she, Farmer nor any other school officials had confirmed the existence of any pact. But the mayor also made it clear that Sullivan was not invited to the press conference because Farmer and others who spoke with him had not "verified" his story. Kirk indicated that, when pressed about who had told him about a pact or about the student's intent, Sullivan's "memory failed him" and became "foggy." In his only public statement since the teen pregnancy media frenzy and end of the school year, Sullivan emphasized that he "wanted to put to rest the notion that I am 'foggy in my memory' or that when pressed, 'my memory failed,' statements attributed to the mayor in her press conference." In today's statement, Sullivan said the effects of the entire episode have been "devastating." But he also praised Gloucester school personnel, and especially the school's students. "I have at all times tried to be fair and honest with the students, the faculty, the staff and the community," he wrote. "At all times I have done what I have felt was in the best interests of the high school. "I want to thank all of the faculty and staff at the high school. My contribution to the progress we have made and the successes we have enjoyed pale compared to everyone else's efforts. Ours is a profession to be proud of and which we honor each day, one day and one student at a time. "I also want to thank the several thousand students who have graduated from Gloucester High during my tenure and give some last words of advice to the 1,200 I leave today. "Gloucester kids are smart and tough. You have kept me feeling young. Challenge yourself to be the best you can everyday. Constantly check your moral compass and do what's right, even if you find yourself at times swimming against the tide. Give more of yourself than you get in return and you will be happy. And finally, please give the new principal the same warm Gloucester welcome and the respect I was given when I arrived." See the full test of Sullivan's resignation letter and statement at gloucestertimes.com For more in this story, see tomorrow's Gloucester Daily Times. To see more of the Gloucester Daily Times or to subscribe, go to http://www.gloucestertimes.com/. Copyright (c) 2008, Gloucester Daily Times, Mass. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. 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