LYNN – A group of parents are pushing for the Lynn School Committee to hold a public hearing regarding its decision on severing ties with Gordon College.”We’re asking them to rescind their vote,” said Lori D’Amico, parent and school activist.”The bottom line is a simple compromise would be to rescind the vote and have anyone who wants to work or volunteer in our schools sign an agreement with our policy.”D’Amico, Stanley Wotring, author of the blog Lynn School Watch, local activist Katerina Panagiotakis Koudanis and parent Joanne Lindner were out Friday morning gathering signatures. They need 150 signatures to force the School Committee to hold a public hearing on the issue. They collected about 40 in a half hour, and D’Amico said she’s not worried about getting the rest.”We have a lot of people collecting for us,” she said. “So that won’t be a problem.”In August the School Committee voted 4-3 to cut ties with Gordon College after the president, Michael Lindsay, signed a letter seeking “a religious exemption” from a federal, non-discrimination order. In a message posted on the college website, Lindsay stated he signed the letter “to affirm the College’s support of the underlying issue of religious liberty, including the right of faith-based institutions to set and adhere to standards which derive from our shared framework of faith.”Committee members Charlie Gallo, Patricia Capano, Maria Carrasco and John Ford voted to end the public schools’ relationships with Gordon, citing the Wenham college “expressed intent to discriminate” in its hiring practices against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals.Wotring argues that the committee is accusing Gordon with a crime it hasn’t committed. “I’ve been a victim of discrimination since 1981,” said Wotring, who was left permanently disabled after the car he was driving went over an embankment when he swerved to avoid hitting a dog. “I know it when I see it.”He refers to the committee’s vote as third-party discrimination, which he calls the worst kind because it’s insincere.D’Amico said thousands of children have benefitted from the schools’ 12-year relationship with the college and that shouldn’t come to an end because of the letter.”Gordon College has had the same policies in place for 12 years,” D’Amico said. “Nothing has changed.”Gallo said something will have to change before he changes his vote. He said he never thought severing ties with Gordon was an ideal situation, but “Gordon needs to retract its request to be able to discriminate in its hiring practices.”Gallo also said it’s a misconception that the board’s decision affected a large number of Gordon students.According to School Committee Secretary Thomas Iarrobino, 12 Gordon student teachers worked last year with local students and eight were scheduled to do so during this school year. Harrington Elementary also had a partnership with the school.”Most of Gordon’s work was outside of the schools, and our vote doesn’t affect what’s done outside the school,” he said.Gallo argued that had the request been made to discriminate against women, senior citizens, Catholics, Hispanics or Protestants, “everyone would have been so disgusted it would have been a 7-0 vote.”Once the group has its 150 signatures collected and certified, the committee will have 90 days to set down a public hearing.”I expect it will be sometime in January,” D’Amico said.