Hatfield, a junior at Marathon High School in Marathon, New York, had put a combination of supplements in his lunch bag on Oct. 13, WBNG reports. The supplements included vitamin C, olive leaf extract and Echinacea, all of which had been left on the school bus.
According to superintendent Rebecca Stone, all medications have to be approved by a parent or doctor and then stored at the nurse's office. While Stone said that the policy has been in place for years, Hatfield argued against it.
"I found it quite ridiculous that I was being suspended for dietary supplements," Hatfield told WBNG.
Although the Hatfield family appealed to the Board of Education, the three day suspension was upheld. Now, they plan to appeal to the State Commissioner of Education.
"I just don't feel that something like this should be on my son's record," Glen Hatfield, Wyatt's father, told CNY Central.
Samantha Hatfield, Wyatt's mother, noted that her son hopes to join the military following his high school graduation, and that the suspension could negatively influence his chances of getting accepted.
This isn't the first time parents have questioned a school's suspension policy. Oviedo, Florida, parents were upset when their daughter was suspended from her middle school for hugging a friend, Click Orlando reported on Nov. 2. The principal upheld the suspension, despite the parents' objections.
Home school or no school, while you still can.