BEAVER FALLS, New York. (WWNY/Gray News) – A high school student in New York was suspended for bringing a cup of coffee to class on her first day of school.
Julie Kaputa, a senior at Beaver River Central School, said her first day of school did not go as planned.
“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 said.
Kaputa received an in-school suspension on the first day of school for violating the school’s outside food and drink rule, a new addition to this year’s code of conduct.
Kaputa and her mother argue the code isn’t valid.
“She said it. She said, ‘It says there’s supposed to be a public hearing. When was that? We never knew about it. Did they announce it?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know, look.’ And we couldn’t find one,” said MaryAnne Kaputa, Julie’s mother.
Kaputa said she isn’t angry or upset with the district. She said her suspension won’t reflect on her permanent record and just wants things to work the way they’re supposed to.
“There was no public hearing to discuss it. Transparency in government is a big thing that I care about a lot, and it just kind of struck me as odd that there wasn’t a public hearing,” Kaputa said.
Superintendent Todd Green said the district’s monthly board meeting in August was considered a public hearing, but after talking with Kaputa, he agreed the hearing wasn’t properly announced.
“It’s good to see students standing up for what they believe in. We really appreciate that. That often doesn’t happen,” Green said. “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.”
Green said the new rule was put in place to promote a safe and distraction-free learning environment.
A new public hearing will take place Sept. 14.
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