Cicero, NY -- Patrick Brown, a senior at Cicero-North Syracuse High School, was suspended Thursday after he posted on Twitter about the district's failed 2013-14 school budget.

Brown, who has never been in trouble with the district before, started a hashtag on Twitter Wednesday to discuss things the district could cut in its budget for next year. The hashtag #shitCNSshouldcut became very popular with students who started posting throughout the school day.

On Thursday, Brown said he was suspended for using a cell phone in class and inciting a social media riot that disrupted the learning environment. Superintendent Kim Dyce Faucette said she was aware of the situation, but could not comment on disciplinary actions against a student.

"We have a student code of conduct and there are clear expectations for all students in our district," Dyce Faucette said. "It's our expectations that our students will abide by our policy and procedures, and if they don't there are clear consequences."

The district's $144,716,279 budget proposal failed to obtain 60 percent voter approval Tuesday. More than 3,600 votes were cast with 1,989 yes votes and 1,680 no votes. The 54 percent approval received was not enough to pass the budget because the district proposed a tax levy increase of 5.33 percent, which was above its calculated tax cap and required a super-majority.

The district and school board will now deliberate and decide whether to resubmit the same budget or put up a revised budget for a second public vote on June 18. The district can also adopt a contingency budget.

Brown said students were talking about the failed budget and the rumors of athletics and extracurricular activities being cut. He originally started the Twitter hashtag as a joke, but did express his opinion that the executive principal's position should be cut.

On Thursday morning, Brown was suspended for three days.

"I was called down to the office and told I was being suspended for harassment of teachers, which no harassment was ever committed," Brown said. "I proved them wrong and instead they suspended me for cellphone use in class and disrupting the education process because the trend I started created a social media riot."

Brown said he did use his cell phone during class, which violates the student code of conduct, but he said his teacher never acknowledged his cell phone use.

"It makes me uncomfortable that I can get in trouble for expressing my opinion," Brown said. "I can understand if you tweet something that is threatening about the school or threatening about a teacher but that's not what I did."

Brown is active in class activities, plays on the lacrosse team and volunteers within the district. He said he's never received a detention or any other disciplinary action at school.

"The worst part is that I disappointed my parents by being suspended," he said.

After students were told of Brown's suspension a new hashtag was created on Twitter -- #FreePatBrown. This hashtag was used by students from several school districts and used to discuss freedom of speech.

"It's wrong that I can't express my opinion on Twitter without being punished," Brown said. "They didn't like our opinions, but that doesn't mean we can't express them."

Contact Sarah Moses at smoses@syracuse.com or 470-2298. Follow @SarahMoses315