New York Student Suspended Over Coffee Challenges Rule

Julie Kaputa, an honors senior at Beaver River Central School in New York, received an in-school suspension on her first day of school after bringing a coffee into class under a newly adopted ban on outside food and drinks. Kaputa and her mother argue the rule was improperly enacted because the district did not adequately publicize a required public hearing. Superintendent Todd Green initially said an August board meeting counted as the hearing but acknowledged after speaking with Kaputa that it was not properly announced. The district says the rule is intended to promote a safer, distraction-free learning environment and plans to hold a new public hearing.