GLOUCESTER, Mass. -- City and school leaders in a Massachusetts town met Monday to discuss how to respond to a spike in teenage pregnancies at Gloucester High School -- and a report that the spike was due, in part, to a pact among some of the girls to get pregnant.

Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk said the report of a "pregnancy pact" has not been confirmed.

Gloucester High School Principal Joseph Sullivan told Time magazine that nearly half of the 17 girls expecting children pledged to get pregnant. The number of pregnancies at the school is four times the usual amount.

However, Sullivan has now told officials he can't remember what his source of information was.

At a news conference Monday, Kirk said the principal was "foggy in his memory about how he heard about the information."

"We don't have independent verification," Kirk said. "The only person that we've heard it from is the high school principal. So, we're trying to understand if that was based in rumor or based in fact."

Kirk met Monday with the chairman of the school committee, the superintendent of schools, the city's public health director and other local officials to discuss teen pregnancy in the community.

Sullivan was not invited to Monday's meeting.

"I wasn't comfortable with having the principal here," Kirk said when asked about Sullivan's absence from the meeting. "I wasn't able to get verification on his statements from any other source."

Earlier, Kirk wouldn't say whether Sullivan's job is now in jeopardy.

"It's too early to tell. We're just trying to get our arms around the storm," Kirk said.

Issue, Statistics Overstated?

"I believe the issue of a pact has been greatly overstated," Superintendent Christopher Farmer said at Monday's news conference. "I don't know what conclusions we would reach if there was or wasn't a pact," adding that the spike in pregnancies warranted attention regardless of the circumstances.

Farmer also said he was concerned about the report that some girls expressed pleasure at being pregnant. Sullivan told Time magazine that some girls had high-fived each other after getting positive pregnancy tests.

Farmer said it reflects that the girls don't really know what pregnancy means, and the responsibilities and risks involved.

Kirk also said media reports about the statistics on the number of pregnancies has been overstated. She did say, however, that at one point in time, 17 students were pregnant at the high school.

'Private Matter'

Kirk declined to share more specifics about the circumstances surrounding any of the pregnancies, including whether any criminal charges would be pursued.

When asked if the girls would be questioned about whether there was a pregnancy pact, Kirk said the pregnancies were a private matter.

"If the girls want to speak with me, my door is open," she said. "This is a private matter with their families, and we are going to respect that."

Town Reacts

Many of the town's residents are talking about the story but are divided about what they believe, reported WCVB-TV in Boston.

"I see the girls walking around pushing the baby carriages. I feel sorry for them. They have a long road ahead of them," resident Amy Clements said. "I don't know if the pact is true or not, but I think it's quite a coincidence that there's that many girls pregnant."

"It doesn't even sound right. Why would a bunch of girls get together and say, 'Let's all get pregnant. What a great time we'll have'?" said Gloucester city Councilman Gus Foot.

Last month, two employees of the high school's health center resigned in protest after their proposal to hand out birth control was rejected following the spike in teen pregnancies.