Student Suspended Over Coffee—Then Found a Flaw in the School’s Rule - Newsweek
A high school student's punishment for bringing coffee to class has triggered a procedural review of district policies and a nationwide spotlight on open-meeting compliance.
Julie Kaputa, a senior at Beaver River Central School in Lewis County, New York, received an in-school suspension on the first day of school for violating a newly enacted ban on outside food and beverages.
"I walked in, I had my coffee with me," Kaputa told local station WWNY. "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.'"
The disciplinary action will not affect her permanent record.
Rather than contesting only the suspension, Kaputa and her mother scrutinized the adoption of the policy itself. Julie's mother, MaryAnne Kaputa, stated that the family found no public record indicating the district had properly announced a required public hearing prior to enacting the restriction.
"There was no public hearing to discuss it," Julie told WWNY. "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."
Superintendent Todd Green maintained that an August board meeting was intended to serve as a public hearing regarding the district's code of conduct. However, following discussions with the Kaputas, Green acknowledged that the session was not clearly advertised to the public as a formal hearing for policy commentary.
"It's good to see students standing up for what they believe in," Green told WWNY. "We really appreciate that. That often doesn't happen."
He added: “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.”
Newsweek reached out to Green via email on Monday for comment.
Morse v. Frederick (2007): A 10-day suspension of an Alaska high school student who displayed a controversial banner that read "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" during a school-supervised Olympic Torch relay reached the U.S. Supreme Court. The 5-4 ruling affirmed that schools may restrict student expression that reasonably encourages illegal drug use during school-supervised activities.
Goss v. Lopez (1975): This landmark ruling from the court established that public school students facing suspension are constitutionally entitled to basic due-process protections and a hearing.
The dispute ultimately raises a larger procedural question: Can a school system legally enforce a policy if required public-notice steps were not correctly followed?
District officials scheduled a new public hearing for September 14 to properly review the policy, giving students and parents another opportunity to weigh in.
Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Ben Kelly and Anthony Murray.
