Instead of attending the last hour of Friday classes, dozens of Sierra High School students dashed across Jet Wing Drive to ask questions their school officials won’t answer.

They wanted to know why Stallions head football coach Phil Jackson was fired this week and why their principal, Aaron Griffen, hasn’t given them an explanation.

Jackson said he wasn’t told why his job was terminated and that he’d like to have a reason to share with the parents and students who keep asking him.

Christine Lyle, a spokeswoman for Harrison School District 2, sent a news release Friday saying that the district will listen to its students’ concerns but is unable to comment because Jackson’s departure is a “personnel matter.”

Jackson played on Sierra’s football team when he was a student in the late 1990s and has called the head coach gig a “dream job.” He was a defensive back at the University of Colorado, where he graduated with a degree in African-American studies.

“The biggest payoff,” he said Friday of his short, one-season tenure at Sierra, “was knowing that I was able to make a difference.”

The Stallions had a 5-5 record in the fall, their most wins since a 6-4 season in 2010. Ask anyone paying attention to the team, Jackson said – the improvements are obvious.

“They haven’t seen those kids come together and play like that in years,” he said.

During the walkout, some students said Jackson, whose position as a substitute math teacher also ended, had been their favorite teacher. He doesn’t have teacher certification, he said, which is why he was on staff as a substitute rather than a full-time teacher. He said he taught five sections of math daily.

He cared about them, made learning fun and was “one of the really good teachers,” teens said. About 50 students who had him in class or on the field, and even some who just knew him from passing in the hallways, walked out of the school around 2:15 p.m. Friday. They waved large signs at drivers who honked as they passed, and they chanted, “Bring Jackson back!” “We want answers!” and “It’s not fair! Griffen doesn’t care!”

Students were threatened with suspension after teachers caught wind of the walkout plans, they said. Lyle could not confirm that the students faced any specific repercussions.

Asia Mason, 16, a junior, said scores more students from the 800-strong school wanted to protest but feared punishment or couldn’t get out the doors. Teachers and administrators tried to block exits, many students said. And some student-athletes reported that they were threatened with being kicked off the team or being forced to do extra running or exercises at practice.

Zach Kiefer, a 15-year-old sophomore who used to be on the football team, said he respected Jackson and his absence at the school will be noticed.

“I looked up to Coach Jackson every day,” he said. “He changed the way I looked at things.”

Jackson was a proponent of athletes getting good grades and encouraged students, the teens said. Some football players, such as John Bernal, also a 15-year-old sophomore, said they wouldn’t play for a team where Jackson isn’t the coach.

“He taught me to be a better student-athlete,” Bernal said. “Without him, I think the school’s going to go bad.”

Jackson said he has been encouraged by the outpouring of support, but he wants students to put learning first.

“They have a voice, but at the same time you don’t ever want to sacrifice education or safety over being heard,” he said. “Education is always first.”

He stopped by the students’ protest to cheers and said he wanted to make sure they were being safe and not going out in the street. The school resource officer for Sierra, Mike Singels, hugged Jackson when he arrived and checked on the crowd, too, asking the students to not put themselves at risk. He mostly watched from across the street.

“I will absolutely protect your right to protest,” he told them.

Griffen did not meet with the students Friday, Kiefer said after the protest. Earlier in the day, many students said they were unsure how they’d proceed next week but that they wouldn’t stop looking for answers.

–

Gazette prep sports editor Scott Kaniewski contributed to this report.