ORRINGTON — The Orrington School Committee extended the contract of Center Drive Principal James White for one year, despite some public allegations Monday that discipline at the school had created some emotional and psychological problems for pupils.

White hugged his supporters following the four-hour meeting in which critics charged that there had been improper disciplinary actions taken against some of the pupils.

Committee chairman Patrick McCoy said that no new issues had been raised during the meeting, and that the issues had been dealt with. McCoy added that nothing raised in or out of public session warranted a negative vote against White, who has been the schools principal for seven years.

Cars filled the parking lot and lined the entrance to the small middle school. More than 150 people filled most of the seats inside the school’s gymnasium.

While White had his detractors Monday night, his supporters were clearly in the majority. Sandwiched between two executive sessions, held behind closed doors, was an hour-long public session where some of the allegations came out.

Laurie Goupee, a parent of two Center Drive pupils, told the committee and those in attendance that over the course of the past year and a half, she had tried to raise a number of issues to White, the district’s superintendent and the school committee. “(But) I was not heard,” she said.

Among the problems, she mentioned, were an alleged assault by a teacher; a teacher who persistently screamed and yelled at pupils; and the punishment of two pupils by having them wait out in the cold in their T-shirts on a cold February day.

Two teachers, who did not want to be identified, said the last allegation was an instance where a long-term substitute physical education teacher had told two pupils that if they didn’t want to listen to the instructions they should go outside. The teachers said that the pupils did so, but to get laughs and attention from classmates.

While Goupee had said that none of the allegations had involved her own two children, she said that they had been unduly punished — given demerits and in one case prevented from attending an evening program because of something her son hadn’t done. She described the way that discipline had been doled out at the school as being unrealistic as well as being barbaric.

“Please have compassion for the students who have had a tormented experience here,” she said, adding later that, “it could be your children that this happened to.”

Goupee also contended that discipline policy had not been developed or reviewed by the committee during the past decade, but rather changes were initiated by virtue of simply being discussed by the principal.

White received the support and endorsement of the current school staff and number of former teachers and current and former pupils.

Among his supporters was the Rev. Bob Carlson, pastor of the East Orrington Congregational Church, who warned against the divisiveness of the issues. He urged those in attendance not to draw a battle line down the center of the school’s hallway.

Speaking on behalf of White, Carlson questioned why, if such problems existed, they have not been addressed. “I would find it very difficult to expect … to believe his judgment is so in error that it has gone unnoticed for (seven) years,” Carlson said.

Not all testimony was given in the public session. The second of two executive sessions lasted about 2 1/2 hours and lines of people waited outside the library where the session was held, in order to speak. The decision to extend White’s contract came shortly before 11 p.m. when the committee returned from the executive session.