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Boy suspended for reversed cap in photo By DAMIAN MANN PROSPECT � When Noah Rusk posed with his hat on backwards for a photograph to celebrate Prospect High School�s first-place award in a "perfect prom" contest, he had no idea it would result in his suspension. Rusk, who had been warned by school officials that he was violating a school rule that prohibits wearing a hat backwards, received a one-day, in-school suspension Wednesday after Superintendent Don Alexander saw him in a Mail Tribune photograph. The 14-year-old Trail youth was posing with four other students to illustrate a story about $20,000 one of the students won for the prom in an Internet contest. "He (the superintendent) asked me, �What�s wrong with this picture?� " said Rusk. "I said, �The hat�s on backwards.� " Rusk said he was told he had violated dress code and that wearing the hat backwards could be construed as gang related. Rusk said, "I told him there are no gangs in Prospect." Instead of an in-school suspension, Rusk�s mother, Karen, decided to take the boy home for the day. Larissa Stewart, administrative team member at the high school, said she could not comment on any disciplinary action taken against a student. "Students� discipline records are confidential," she said. Stewart said a student typically would be warned three or four times before being given a suspension. "We give them lots of warning," she added. Though Prospect has no gangs, Stewart said the school district and the community work together to create dress codes, which are common in most schools. He said administrators want to maintain a safe and secure atmosphere at the school. James Rusk, the youth�s father, said the suspension was wrong. "He just put it on backwards for the photo." Rusk said his son is a good student. "He never causes trouble up there. It�s just a fad to wear hats backwards." Rusk said he hadn�t realized his son was warned previously about this. "A rule is a rule, but it seems like that isn�t a good reason for a rule. Kids at that age are real apt to push the limit on a rule that doesn�t make sense," he said. Exchange student Karin Mueller, who was instrumental in capturing the first-place prom award, disagrees with the suspension. "He just did it for the picture. But I guess they thought it could be considered as related to gangs," she said. "We have three people who like to wear their hats backward and I�m not afraid of any of them." Mueller said two students left campus in protest and others talked about doing the same. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.