RUMFORD – The SAD 43 board Monday unanimously approved the readmission of a freshman girl who had been expelled during the last school year.

Superintendent Jim Hodgkin said Thursday that the girl was expelled when she was an eighth-grader at Mountain Valley Middle School during the previous school year. He would not discuss the reasons for her expulsion.

The decision to readmit her came after an eight-minute closed session with the student and her parent. Hodgkin said she had received counseling before asking to be readmitted.

He said she showed that she would no longer be a threat to other students.

The board held a second closed session of about 20 minutes to learn about a grievance from a member of the secretary’s bargaining unit. Hodgkin said the woman has already gone through two levels of the grievance procedure, which was a meeting with the superintendent, then with the school board.

An arbitrator from the Maine Education Association will represent the woman.