About 90 percent of the participants supported the idea of condoms in the school, Giroux said, although some religious leaders and other critics stood firmly opposed to any such policy because they said it would advocate promiscuity.

Theresa M. Dilano, an elementary school reading tutor, said she testified that the school shouldn't spend time and resources on the condoms.

"With the money being so tight these days that teachers can't get all the necessary materials in the classroom, schools shouldn't be wasting money on condoms," Dilano said.

"And the students can also buy the condoms at the store or pick them up for free at one of Cambridge's six health clinics, she added. "It's not like we live in Montana where the nearest clinic is 50 miles away."

While a few School Committee members rejected the condom idea outright, committee member and former mayor Alfred E. Vellucci offered an alternative solution: give students vouchers to pick up condoms at nearby stores.

"That way, there would be peace with the parents who believed a school should be sacred and hallowed, and the students would still get their condoms," Vellucci said.

But a majority of the Committee opted for the original proposal of distributing condoms on school grounds. Henrietta Davis, who headed the subcommittee, said most members came to that conclusion after basing their decision on the medical point of view.

"We needed to attend to what the medical community was telling us," Davis said. "Their influence was to make it less of a political issue and more of a health issue."

Dr. Melvin H. Chalfen '50, who spoke before the school committee, suggested the condoms be distributed through the existing Teen Health Center--provided students first sit down with a counselor to discuss proper usage of the contraceptive, as well as the practice of abstinence as the best way to avoid sexually-transmitted diseases.

The program, in effect since May 1990, charges students 50 cents for three condoms if they can pay, Giroux said. And the Health Center remains open until 5 p.m. each day, as well as during the summer.

Mayor Alice K. Wolf, who supported the school program, attributes the success of the program to the students who first thrust the condom issue into the spotlight. "The students brought their matter to the attention of the city's leaders, showing that young people can be activists on their own behalf," Wolf said.

And that effort still draws praise from prinicpal Edward R. Sarasin. "There was a sense of social responsibility that the students felt within them," Sarasin said. "They did it with a great deal of courage, integrity and vision--that's why it was a success."

Schoff, who as the Health Center's manager sees the results more directly than anyone else, said the program has undoubtedly decreased the number of students having sex without protection and cut down on those treated for sexually transmitted diseases.

"And if nothing else, because of this program, many students are having their first responsible discussion about sex with adults," she said.

While Vellucci criticizes the current program for what he calls a low participation rate--an average of 75 students, or less than 5 percent of the student body, pick up about 300 condoms each month--Sarasin said that any minimal decrease in the transmission of sexual disease justifies the program.