In other academic news...
A group of New England high-school girls made a stunning pact to get pregnant and raise their babies among the group, according to a bombshell report yesterday.
There are now 17 expectant mothers at Gloucester HS in Gloucester, Mass., a school that saw only four pregnancies last academic year.
It's unclear how many of the moms-to-be were in the compact, which came to light when girls started asking the school nurse for an unusually high number of pregnancy tests.
The tests were repeatedly taken by the same girls, who reacted unfavorably to negative results.
"Some girls seemed more upset when they weren't pregnant than when they were," Gloucester HS Principal Joseph Sullivan told Time magazine.
After the girls 'fessed up about plans to get pregnant and raise their kids as a group, officials made another stunning discovery.
"We found out one of the fathers is a 24-year-old homeless guy," Sullivan told the mag.
Time reported that none of the pregnant students is older than 16, the age of consent in Massachusetts.
The town's lead police detective is following the case but said there were no immediate plans to launch a criminal probe - unless parents or Essex County prosecutor ask for it.
"As of this moment, there is no investigation under way," Gloucester police Lt. Michael Lane told The Post.
"That's not to say one can't be done in the future, but that's yet to be seen."
The blue-collar fishing town on Cape Ann has been in lean economic times for years.
Schools superintendent Christopher Farmer speculated that the downturn prompted girls to find happiness in all the wrong places.
"Families are broken," Farmer said. "Many of our young people are growing up directionless."
None of the impregnated girls or their families could be reached for comment yesterday.
But recent Gloucester HS grad Amanda Ireland said she witnessed the roots of this pact take hold over the last few years.
Ireland, 18, gave birth as a freshman and recalled how girls said she was lucky to have a baby.
They're so excited to finally have someone to love them unconditionally," Ireland said. "I try to explain it's hard to feel loved when an infant is screaming to be fed at 3 a.m."
Nurse practitioner Kim Daly and Dr. Brian Orr saw the writing on the wall earlier this school year and advocated giving contraception without parental consent.
(Nick you'll love this last part)
But parents and leaders of the staunchly Catholic town balked, prompting Daly and Orr to quit their posts at the Gloucester HS health clinic.
"Dr. Orr and Ms. Daly have no right to decide this for our children," Mayor Carolyn Kirk said.
