Following a closed session that lasted nearly two hours Tuesday night, the Mathews County School Board approved the expulsion of one student and the long-term suspension of five others.

Parents, students and others, including attorneys, filled the Mathews High School media center awaiting the decision of the board on the school disciplinary matters. Superintendent of Schools Dr. David J. Holleran had no comment on the matter, declining to indicate the nature of the offenses or whether the incidents were separate or connected.

The school board approved the long-term suspensions by unanimous 5-0 votes, with the board splitting 4-1 on the expulsion. School board vice chairman Jen Little cast the lone vote against expelling the student. The five suspended students will be placed in the Middle Peninsula Regional Alternative School Program for the remainder of the current school year.

As originally reported in the public record section of the March 7 Gazette-Journal, an 18-year-old M...