In a surprising turn of events, the Whitefish School Board voted on Monday night to renew Whitefish Principal Dave Carlson?s contract for the next year. Before Monday night?s meeting, Whitefish School Superintendent Kate Orozco had recommended the board vote to not renew his contract.

The vote came after an hours-long school board meeting, in which board members heard testimonies supportive of Carlson from students and parents. Early on Monday morning, over 200 Whitefish High School students held a sit-in, after hearing that Carlson was going to possibly lose his job after the meeting?s vote.

The sit-in only lasted about 25 minutes, because Carlson had asked the students to get to class. Carlson says it was a humbling experience seeing all the kids show their support.

?What those kids did was something that I?ll never forget,? said Carlson.