Class President Sacked for Prom Condom Giveaway

May 29 -- A class president who secretly stowed condoms in give-away bags at her high school senior prom has been stripped of her title and barred from speaking at graduation.

Lissette Stanley, the former senior class president of Blake High School in Tampa, Fla., tells Good Morning America that she was trying to help sexually active students, and didn't think she would end up in so much trouble.

"I thought something was going to happen, but I didn't think my speech was going to be taken away," Stanley says. But school principal David Best felt differently, and took away Stanley's title and the accompanying honor of addressing her fellow classmates at graduation.

Worried About Pregnant Teens

The gift bags distributed at the April 28 dance also contained several sentimental items: a photo frame, a candle with an inscription, and a poem, but Stanley snuck the condoms in when the prom supervisors weren't looking.

Before the prom, many students had asked Stanley if condoms would be provided. She considered putting them in a fish bowl in the bathroom, but another female student suggested the favor bags and Stanley agreed.

"I just thought I should put that in there because I thought the kids need protection," says Stanley.

Blake High School, a new performing arts magnet school, enrolls about 1,800 students, including about 430 in the senior class. By Stanley's estimate, 15 to 20 girls graduating in her class are pregnant, and approximately 10 girls are already moms.

Less than a dozen students had picked up the bags when the condoms were discovered. Teachers confiscated them and removed the condoms from the 400 other bags.

School Nixed Condoms Before

The school district has a firm stance against distributing birth control in school. In 1992, the activist group, ACT UP, sought permission to distribute condoms at the high school. The school board rejected the idea, arguing that it was not the appropriate way for students who need contraception to get it.