High school student suspended for bringing cup of coffee to class demands rule revoke

A high school student who was suspended after bringing a cup of coffee to class is calling for the rule that landed her in trouble to be revoked.

Julie Kaputa’s first day in class didn’t go as planned when a teacher questioned her about her beverage during a lesson on September 3.

The student, who attends Beaver river Central School in Castorland, New York, told WTVM: "I walked in, I had my coffee with me. I got to my first period class and my teacher said, ‘I’m either going to need you to dump that out or consume it on the spot or go down to the office.

Kaputa, who is a senior student, was handed an in-school suspension (ISS) as a result of bringing the coffee in, with the school alleging she violated Code of Conduct, which is to 'create a safe, instruction-focused environment for all students'.

The school’s district’s policy on food and drink from outside of their grounds states: "The following food and drink guidelines help minimize distractions, protect students with food allergies, and promote a calm, equitable school experience.

"Students arriving with drinks or food will be asked to finish them before entering school.”

Kaputa says she and other students plan to demand the rule be revoked during a school-board meeting.

Kaputa says students are demanding a change to the rule (Getty Stock Image)

She told the New York Post that she expects a ‘good turnout’ for the meeting and remains hopeful the demand to bring coffee into class may be agreed to.

“We’re hopeful that they will’’ she said, referring to board members.

The hearing took place on Monday (Sep. 14). When the date for the hearing was announced, Kaputa said: "They will be holding a public hearing at the next board meeting and asking several students to have input into rewriting this section of the code to address both the administrator and student concerns," she added.

Kaputa previously argued the rule has not been adopted legally as there was no public hearing when it was introduced last month.

Kaputa’s mom, Mary Anne Kaputa, also weighed in on the matter and asked other parents if they'd seen any advertisement from the school surrounding the new rule and a public hearing, which is required for it to pass.

Kaputa was given a suspension (WGRZ-TV)

Mary wrote on Facebook: "Julie was put in ISS today for refusing to dump out a 'banned beverage' (a latte from moving mountains). I was called down to the school.

"Meeting minutes from both July and August (where the code may have been discussed) were never published to the website until today when I pointed it out to the District Office, and the district office had no record of a public hearing being conducted.

"Just wondering if anyone else saw it and I missed it. I am certain that the school can not enforce a substantial change to the code of conduct without a public hearing."

Superintendent Todd Green told WWNYTV said the board's monthly meeting in August was considered a public meeting but commended Kaputa for speaking up.

“It’s good to see students standing up for what they believe in. We really appreciate that. That often doesn’t happen,” Green said in response to Kaputa challenging the rule. “We’re a school district. We’re trying to do the best we can throughout this process. We know there’s open meeting laws. We try to follow that. If things get pointed out that we need to do and change or fix, we’ll do that.”