To the editor:
I’m responding to the article from the Aug. 17 front page titled “Official looks to block funding concerning the suspension of the guidance counselor from Roncalli High School.”
My family and I have been parishioners at Our Lady of the Greenwood for over 20 years. Our daughter has had a Catholic education beginning with grade school. She attended Roncalli High School and is now a junior at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. Ms. Shelly Fitzgerald was our daughter’s guidance counselor all four years at Roncalli. In the opportunities I had to talk with Ms. Fitzgerald, I found her to be caring, attentive to the needs of her students and from my perspective, competent.
However, this issue is not about competency, it is about contracts and contractual law. In the article, State Rep. Dan Forestal was quoted saying “Roncalli should not be rewarded with state dollars if they choose to discriminate against employees simply based on who they love.” Rep. Forestal also says that Roncalli’s actions are “contrary to the ideals he learned as a student, and that he was taught that we were to love and accept everyone regardless of our differences.” In the next General Assembly he plans to use his influence in an attempt to alter Catholic church policy which he believes is discriminatory.
Wikipedia (which we can all dial up on our phones) defines contractual law as: An agreement between private parties creating mutual obligations enforceable by law. The basic elements required for the agreement to be a legally enforceable contract are: mutual assent, expressed by a valid offer and acceptance; adequate consideration; capacity; and legality. A contract is an agreement between two or more parties to perform a service, provide a product or commit to an act and is enforceable by law. There are several types of contracts, and each have specific terms and conditions. Further the Catholic Church requires teachers — through contractual agreements — to uphold the beliefs of the Catholic church where marriage is defined as between a man and a woman.
This issue is not about love, differences or discrimination. Discrimination is defined in Wikipedia as the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age or sex.
This issue is about non-compliance with a contractual agreement resulting from a person’s decision to make a choice. In Ms. Fitzgerald’s case, she chose not to adhere to the terms and conditions of the contract she held with Roncalli High School.
Steve Pappas
Greenwood
