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Main Line Catholic School Parents Convene To Discuss Controversial Firing of Teacher

By Jim Melwert 

MERION, Pa. (CBS) -- More than 130 people attended a meeting Wednesday night to discuss the firing of a teacher at a Catholic school on the Main Line.

Parents learned through an e-mail sent Friday that Waldron Mercy Academy teacher Margie Winters had been fired.  While not saying it specifically, the e-mail strongly hints that Winters was fired because she is gay.

Nancy Houston, a parent of a child who had Winters as a teacher, says she hopes this doesn't fracture the community.  At this point, she says, many people have a lot of questions they hope to get answered.

"I think generally we're dismayed by the actions of Waldron Mercy," she told KYW Newsradio today.  "It didn't sit well with the families.  It's not who we know the school to be."

In a statement, Waldron Mercy Academy principal Nell Stetser says she cannot discuss a specific personnel matter, but the statement goes on to say the primary consideration that guided her decisionmaking process was to sustain the Catholic identity of Waldron Mercy Academy.  And, it says, "For the privilege of calling ourselves Catholic we adhere to the teachings of the church."

That wasn't good enough for some parents Wednesday night, many of whom want answers about what prompted the firing.

"I was shocked, upset, angry, sad.  I mean, I really ran the gamut this weekend," said Houston.

Several dozen parents met at Jack's Firehouse in Fairmount, with Winters in attendance, discussing what they plan to do next.

 

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