DIXFIELD – At a special SAD 21 board meeting Tuesday night, directors unanimously voted to expel two Dirigo High School students who brought a pellet gun to the school on Oct. 10.

Thirteen of 15 directors present met in two 45-minute executive sessions at the secondary school before deciding the fate of a 15-year-old Dixfield boy and a 16-year-old Rumford boy, Superintendent Thomas Ward said Wednesday afternoon by phone in Augusta.

“Both were apologetic,” he said.

Time limits for each expulsion were not set, but, Ward said he and high school Principal Daniel Hart will meet next week with the students’ families to set expectations the duo would have to meet before they could reapply to return to the district.

“School boards can vote to expel and not set a time limit. To return, it depends on how much the students are willing to cooperate and help themselves along the way. My sense was they’d be very willing to work hard to do what we want them to do,” Ward added.

On Oct. 10, high school officials locked down the facility 30 minutes after classes when an adult ran in, saying there was a man with a gun on school grounds. The man turned out to be the two boys, who left school property and returned with a pellet handgun to show to friends.

Dixfield police, who said the toy resembles a .45-caliber pistol, arrested and charged the pair with felony terrorizing with a firearm. The boys are tentatively scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 13 in juvenile session at Rumford District Court.