They’ve lost United Way funding and the support of several students’ families, but the Evanston Boy Scouts of America probably will not face expulsion from public schools.

In a standing-room-only public meeting Thursday, the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 policy committee decided not to recommend that the school board discontinue the district’s relationship with the Boy Scouts. The three committee members said the troops do not violate the district’s discrimination policies.

“I’m very pleased with the outcome,” said Mike Albano, the committee chairman for Boy Scouts Troop 16. “There would have been no winners either way if they decided to kick the Scouts out.”

Under the current agreement, the district provides the Boy Scouts with free meeting space. The troops perform several community service projects each school year for the district.

Board member Lisa Kupferberg called for the meeting in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in June that affirmed the Boy Scouts’ right to exclude homosexuals because it is a private organization.

Kupferberg told The Daily in September that the district’s policies “are clearly not in agreement with the Supreme Court ruling. We have diversity in all areas.”

After the meeting, Kupferberg said she is not dissatisfied with the result.

“I still think in Evanston the question of discrimination is in the forefront,” she said. “But we feel we are in compliance.”

About 75 people attended the meeting, most of them Boy Scouts supporters. Many said the group is an asset to the community.

But opponents of the Boy Scouts’ national policy argued the organization should not be allowed to meet in public schools it excludes homosexuals.

Bob Carroll, a gay parent and teacher, called the Boy Scouts a “worthy organization,” but he said he will not support it while the national organization discriminates.

“The Boy Scouts of America spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to maintain their right to discriminate against me and my family,” Carroll said.

Some parents and Scouts leaders at the meeting read prepared statements, others discussed their personal experiences with the Scouts, and some were even brought to tears.

The teachers union urged the committee to recommend a change in policy.

Union President John Lalley exhorted the district to “immediately ban all meetings sanctioned, sponsored and held by the Boy Scouts of America from occurring in any school building.”

The union’s prepared statement compared the Boy Scouts to other exclusionary groups, including the Ku Klux Klan and avowed white supremacist Matthew Hale’s religious organization, World Church of the Creator.

After examining specific district policies, the committee decided the local troops do not violate them. The single reference to sexual orientation in the nondiscrimination policies applies to hiring practices.

Most of the people who supported the Scouts cited the group’s contributions to the Evanston community and emphasized that the local troops do not discriminate.

“The one group that has really fulfilled my passion for my sons is scouting,” said Steven Collins, an assistant scoutmaster. “We have a proven track record of our successes.”

Another speaker appealed to the board to exercise tolerance in the matter.

“Free speech and free association are sacred,” said Greg Lisinski, assistant scoutmaster for Evanston Cub Scouts Troop 3. “I don’t think it’s proper for groups to tell others what is moral,” he said.

In defense of the Scouts, Lisinski said Evanston Township High School supports a gay and lesbian rights club and a Bible club, even though many community members oppose the groups.

“Tolerance is to say ‘I don’t see things your way, but I support your right,’ ” Lisinski said. He urged the board not to “disregard 85 years of tradition on one point.”

Emotions ran high when parent Patt Plunkett spoke. “Is it then your job to pass judgement on their judgement?” she said of the Supreme Court’s decision.

Choking back tears, Plunkett asked the committee to consider the positive and negative effects of evicting the Boy Scouts.

“As I see it, this is a lose-lose situation,” Plunkett said.

During the committee’s debate, board member Rosie Rees voiced her support for the Scouts.

“The Boy Scouts are not in violation of our policies,” she said. “I think none of us would disagree with the wonderful services the Boy Scouts provide.”