High school student suspended for bringing cup of coffee to class on first day of school
A high school student from New York was suspended for bringing a cup of coffee with her to class.
Julie Kaputa's first day at Beaver River Central School in Castorland, New York, didn't exactly go to plan after a teacher questioned her over the caffeine hit during a lesson on September 3.
She 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 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'.
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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 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.
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."
In an update to the social media post, Mary stated that the school board will reconvene on Monday (September 14) to hold a public hearing over food and drink rules.
"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.
Callum Jones