It's been about 130 school days since Matthew Williams last attended classes at Keith Middle School. Matthew was suspended for writing a list of names and how and when those people would die.

NEW BEDFORD — It's been about 130 school days since Matthew Williams, a 14-year-old New Bedford student, last attended classes at Keith Middle School.



On Oct. 20, 2011, Matthew was suspended for writing a list of names and how and when those people — classmates, friends, teachers — would die.



Cartoon-style drawings of some of the causes of death on the list were also found in his locker.



Matthew and his mother, Tiffany Dearden, said the list was intended as a joke and pointed to the causes of death, which included driving off Mount Rushmore and getting run over by a moose, and the years of death, which ran from 0001 to 9999, as evidence of that.



School officials, however, saw nothing funny about it and initially suspended Matthew for 45 days, said Dearden. That suspension has stretched well beyond its initial term, and it appears likely that Matthew will not return to school until the fall.



Dearden wrote a letter giving school officials permission to speak to The Standard-Times about her son and his suspension.



However, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services Heather Larkin declined to comment, citing advice from legal representation that it was not appropriate to discuss Matthew at this time.



All Massachusetts school districts are required to report certain discipline data to the state education department, including incidents that involve drugs and violence, and suspensions of more than 10 consecutive days, which is collected in the School Safety and Discipline Report (SSDR).



Based on data in the SSDR, during the 2010-2011 school year, the average length of a suspension in the city's school district was four days while the longest suspension handed down was 80 days.



The numbers reported in the SSDR were higher in New Bedford Public Schools during the 2009-2010 school year: the average length of a suspension was 17 days while the longest suspension was 182 days, handed down for a physical attack, according to the DESE data set.



In that same school year, there were 13 suspensions in New Bedford that lasted more than 100 days, according to the SSDR. Of those, five were for physical attacks, four were for possession of a knife or cutting weapon, two were for felony convictions outside of school and the final two were for marijuana possession, according to the data.



Dearden said the message she keeps getting from school officials is that Matthew doesn't understand the seriousness of his actions.



"I understand it's a touchy subject; I hear about Columbine over and over again," she said, referencing the 1999 school shooting at a Colorado high school.



But, Dearden continued later, "They should have looked at the child. They should have looked at the situation."



An evaluation conducted by Child and Family Services, Inc., on the same day Matthew was suspended found that he demonstrated good insight into the seriousness of his actions and why the school was reacting the way it was.



The evaluation also stated that Matthew was willing to follow whatever plan was developed for him to ensure the safety of himself and others.



"I do understand why (the school) got upset, why they might have been a little frightened," said Matthew on Tuesday in an interview at his home.



Matthew said he thought he should have been punished, but said the sentence handed down was "a little too severe for the crime."



Matthew said the list started as a joke between him and some friends as a way to pass time after they had finished their class work.



According to Matthew, one of his teachers saw the list and, after ripping it up, threw it away. Another student then took it out of the garbage and brought it to the principal, said Matthew.



"It is feasible to believe that (Matthew) was attempting to entertain and engage with peers by drawing cartoon depictions of what he believed to be funny statements," stated the evaluation by Child and Family Services.



Since October, Matthew has been receiving tutoring services at his home: a tutor comes for about 15 to 20 minutes a day and drops off a packet of work for him to complete on his own, said Matthew and his mother.



He is able to move through his school work much more quickly than he did at Keith, said Matthew, but he still misses the school environment.



"I get more done, but I don't like that I sit here all day long alone and never see anyone," he said.



Dearden said she has had a hard time getting answers — or even phone calls back — from school officials over the past few months. She received no formal written communication from the school system about the extension of Matthew's suspension, she said.



"I feel like it's just a touchy subject that they don't want to hit on, so they just put him aside," said Dearden.



She added later: "He understands completely why people are taking it so seriously. ... He understands, and I understand, and we all understand why you can't be writing lists about people dying."



Before getting suspended, Matthew had hoped to go to Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School, but neither he nor his mother think that is an option any more. Instead, Matthew will likely start at New Bedford High School.



"The only thing I don't like about the whole (thing), everybody getting scared, is because I don't want anyone to feel scared of me," he said. "I'm afraid of everybody else."