MONTGOMERY COUNTY — A local high school student will miss out on her senior prom after getting suspended over bringing a bag of corn chips to school.
As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, Miami Valley Career Technology Center prohibits bringing this kind of snack to school because a teacher is severely allergic to an ingredient.
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Amber Guy’s daughter Ali is a senior at Miami Valley Career Technology Center set to graduate in December. Her home school is West Carrollton.
Guy said someone gave Ali the Taki chips on the school bus and she was hungry, so she ate them.
Ali didn’t finish the chips. Guy said Ali brought the bag inside the building, but there were only two chips left.
When she finished the remaining chips, Ali threw the bag away and went to class.
“The school principal called her down to the office and at that point, they asked her if she ate the chips, she said yes, and they suspended her for five days,” Guy said.
Due to the suspension at Miami Valley Career Technology Center, Guy said it’s West Carrollton’s policy to not allow her to attend their prom either.
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“For her, it was a big deal. She probably tried on 50 dresses before she picked up the right dress, it’s probably her only prom she would be able to go to because she graduates in December,” Guy said. “They’re taking away a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her,” Guy said.
News Center 7 reached out to Miami Valley Career Technology Center and Superintendent Nick Weldy confirming they did discipline the student for not following the rule regarding food consumption at school.
“The Miami Valley Career Technology Center (MVCTC) has taken disciplinary action against a student for non-compliance with an established rule regarding food consumption on campus involving a staff member with a severe/life-threatening allergy. The issue arose due to the student eating the allergen in an instructional area where such items are prohibited. Signage is posted in multiple locations notifying students, staff and visitors of this sensitive and restricted area of the campus. The discipline measure is not an arbitrary restriction but a necessary precaution to ensure the safety of a staff member who faces severe, life-threatening allergies to certain foods.
Under the guidelines outlined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), MVCTC must safeguard the well-being of all individuals, including students and staff, within the district. Just as the district would attend to the needs of a student with life-threatening peanut allergies, it extends the same level of care and consideration to accommodate the allergies of staff members who work with our students and who have the right to a safe work environment.
The school has taken proactive steps to communicate these rules since the beginning of each school year, with signage displayed throughout the designated area and a formal acknowledgment process for students who will be taught in several restricted classrooms and a short hallway area. Every student who learns in this particular area of the campus, in conjunction with their parent or guardian, acknowledges their understanding of the prohibition on consuming products containing the allergen in the specified area by signing a written document.
MVCTC will continue to enforce our guidelines to provide the safest learning and teaching environment possible.”
— A statement from MVCTC Superintendent Nick Weldy
Guy said she and Ali are aware of the signage.
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“There’s a sign like no corn with the corn on the cob, at 7:30 in the morning, not many people are thinking oh does this have corn in it,” Guy said.
In the statement, the school said parents and students had to sign a form acknowledging this rule at the beginning of the year.
Guy said she wasn’t aware of this rule because her daughter’s father signed the form, and they are separated.
Guy told News Center 7′s Taylor Robertson that she filed an appeal with MVCTC over the suspension, but it was denied.
Now she plans to get a lawyer and try to get the suspension appealed in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas.
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