‘Students not removed from NHS and JROTC’

The 20 members of Tinian High School graduating class who were suspended for five days for smoking and drinking during a senior class trip to Guam have not been stripped of their memberships in the National Honor Society and Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps.

Board of Education member from Tinian Frances H. Diaz told Saipan Tribune yesterday that she spoke with THS vice principal Thelma Zing yesterday morning and she denied that these students have been removed from the two organizations.

She said her daughter is, in fact, still a member of NHS and is currently busy with preparation for an upcoming event in her school.

Education Commissioner Rita H. Inos said the Public School System’s legal counsel had nothing to do with the allegation of one parent that they advised THS to expel the students from the organizations.

She said it is the school’s policy that prompted the school administration’s decision to suspend the students.

The Saipan Tribune tried to obtain comments from the Tinian High School administration but the man who answered the telephone, who refused to identify himself, said that the office of the vice principal will be preparing a response, either through a letter or an official statement.

BOE member Diaz admitted that her daughter was one of the senior students who got suspended for smoking and drinking during their senior class trip on Guam last Easter month. She said her daughter told her she only tried a little of the smoking and all of them got suspended. Her daughter will be turning 18 years old next month.

She said some students who were suspended but were not actually involved were allowed to report to school ahead of the others.

Diaz said two of the parents of the students approached her about the matter.

As a parent, she said, she felt sad because her own daughter became involved in the turmoil. She said parents could not always see what their children are doing everyday, especially when they are away. She said some of the seniors in the trip were already 18 years old, so they could not be stopped, at least during that trip. But she said it was a learning point for everyone.

As for the teachers and chaperone who accompanied the children to Guam, Diaz said she heard the teachers were also suspended. The identity of the teachers and chaperone have already been provided by sources but are still being withheld pending confirmation by the THS principal or vice principal.

A mother of one of the students, who asked not to be named, told the Saipan Tribune earlier that the teachers and a chaperone dragged the students into the situation. She alleged that the teachers purchased the beer for the students and took them to bars and strip clubs on Guam.

Another parent, Violi Aguiao, also expressed her disappointment over what happened and said the teachers and the chaperone should have stopped the children as they were adults.

The parent who asked for anonymity said she wants the teachers and the chaperone to be fired from their respective jobs.

Another source said that this was not the first time that one of the teachers got involved in a situation like this.

Inos said yesterday they would still have to look at the details of the incident.