Deer Park Students Defend Senior Who Was Suspended

DEER PARK, NY - Several students are defending one Deer Park High School senior who they say was treated unfairly by school officials after she was suspended for a photo she posted on her Instagram.

A few students attended the Deer Park Board of Education meeting to speak in favor of their friend who allegedly got suspended over a meme she posted to her private account.

One student said the photo allegedly contained a caption that "called out cultural appropriation" and the senior who posted it got suspended for the remainder of the school year.

"I posted a meme referencing white people that had a cartoon gun in it and the caption mentioned the kickline girls appropriating my culture, it was clearly seen as a joke and no one made any notice to it being considered a 'threat', then the next day a girl told me to go back to my country and the situation escalated," the suspended student said in an email. "The girl was not punished and I received the harshest punishment possible especially considering zero track record. Despite countless attempts to apologize to the school district as well as personally to the kickline girls, i was painted to be a villain."

She is prohibited from school grounds and is not allowed to walk graduation.

A friend of the senior who was suspended claims that her parents really want her to walk so they wanted to speak out on her behalf since, according to them, officials refused to meet with her and have blocked her calls.

However the friend claims that when the students tried to speak, the board immediately "dismissed the meeting and cut off the microphones."

Another friend of the suspended student told Patch the student was "targeted."

"As a member of student body this disgusts me," she wrote in an email. "Our superintendent of the school stated 'In my gut and in my heart I know I made the right decision.'"

The Deer Park School District said they could not comment on individual student matters.