The Stafford County School Board approved her resignation at a meeting Tuesday night.

Assistant Superintendent Lisa Martin, who was Colonial Forge’s principal from 1999 until June, will supervise the school until an interim principal is named. The division plans to conduct a search for Spillman’s replacement.

“I think Colonial Forge has been in a very difficult position for the past week and a half,” Superintendent Randy Bridges said Tuesday night. “I commend the faculty and staff and administration for moving forward on providing a quality education.” He wouldn’t say why Spillman resigned.

Spillman, who became Colonial Forge’s principal in August after serving as an assistant principal since March, has received a lot of criticism since an incident with a student in a banana costume.

She recommended that sophomore Bryan Thompson, 14, be suspended for the rest of the school year after he ran onto Colonial Forge’s football field during halftime on Sept. 16 while wearing a banana costume.

She wrote in a letter to the student’s mom that Bryan had been disrespectful to an administrator and disrupted an activity, among other violations of the student code of conduct.

Many, including students, thought the punishment was too severe.

Last week, Colonial Forge students wore yellow T–shirts with sayings such as “Free banana man.” Administrators told them to remove the shirts, and some students were issued Saturday detention as punishment for the protest. But schools spokeswoman Valerie Cottongim said students won’t have to serve those detentions if they merely wore “banana man” T–shirts.

The American Civil Liberties Union last Thursday cautioned the school against violating students’ First Amendment rights. The next day, Bridges called many of the school’s actions “inappropriate” and apologized to students and their families.

“This administration and the School Board fully support the First Amendment rights of our students,” Bridges said in a statement at the time.

About 30 Colonial Forge High School teachers attended Tuesday night’s School Board meeting to support Spillman.

Al Watkins was the only Colonial Forge teacher to speak, but his colleagues gave him a standing ovation.