High school student suspended on first day of class for bringing in coffee speaks out
Starting your final year of high school is supposed to be about making memories, soaking up those last moments with friends and, for many students, getting through the morning with a much-needed coffee in hand.
But for one New York senior, her first day back in class ended with a trip to the school office, all because of her chosen beverage.
Julie Kaputa, an honours student and student body president at Beaver River Central School in Castorland, New York, was given an in-school suspension last week (3 Sept), after bringing a latte to her first lesson.
But the suspension wasn't simply because she had a coffee.
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Kaputa was kicked out of class after refusing to throw the drink away or finish it immediately, as she had been instructed by her teacher.
"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 told local outlet WWNY.
The student chose the office.
The issue came from a new section of the school district's 2026-27 code of conduct banning students from bringing outside food and drinks into school. The policy says the restrictions are intended to 'minimise distractions, protect students with food allergies, and promote a calm, equitable school experience'.
Under the controversial new rule, students arriving with food or drinks are asked to finish them before entering the school.
Kaputa and her mother, MaryAnne, challenged the way the policy had been introduced, arguing that there had been no properly advertised public hearing before it was adopted.
"There was no public hearing to discuss it," Kaputa said. "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 said the district considered its August school board meeting to have served as the required public hearing, but acknowledged that this was not made clear in the meeting notice.
"While our annual review process mirrors a public hearing in practice, we acknowledge the advance notice did not explicitly contain the phrase 'Public Hearing' and that the public may not have realised they were entitled to speak on the Code of Conduct before action was taken by the Board," Green said.
He added: "Because we hold ourselves to the highest standard of compliance, we are correcting this administrative detail."
Green also praised Kaputa for challenging the rule.
"It’s good to see students standing up for what they believe in," he continued. "We really appreciate that. That often doesn’t happen.
"We’re a school district. We’re trying to do the best we can throughout this process. We know there are 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."
Kaputa was eventually allowed to return to class with her coffee, and says the suspension will not appear on her permanent record.
The school board is due to hold another public hearing on the policy later today (14 Sept), with students expected to have input on the rules.
Topics: Life, Food and Drink
Rhianna Benson