Three Governor French Academy students were suspended for fighting, according to school officials, and one of the students is facing expulsion.

Phillip Paeltz, headmaster of the Governor French Academy, said the three female students -- a sophomore, a junior and a senior -- got into a fight at Hough Park on North Third Street in Belleville during their lunch period at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

High school students at Governor French Academy, a preparatory school on West Main Street in downtown Belleville, are allowed to leave the school building during lunch.

The fight between the girls, who were all friends, was over a boy, Paeltz said.

All three students, whose names were not released, were suspended for six and a half days -- the remainder of this week and all of next week.

Paeltz said one of the students continued to escalate the matter Thursday night by sending threatening text messages and posting a video of the fight on her Facebook page, which included "threatening and obscene" comments.

"One of the crazy things is the person she is threatening is one of her (Facebook) friends," Paeltz said.

In addition to suspension, the student who continued the threatening behavior is facing expulsion. Paeltz said the expulsion proceedings have begun and he expects a hearing for the student to be held next Friday.

A police report has been filed with the Belleville Police Department, Paeltz said.

Contact reporter Jamie Forsythe at 618-239-2562 or jforsythe1@bnd.com.