(CBS) — Students learned a life lesson Wednesday in standing up for a cause they believe in.

CBS 2’s Sandra Torres reports.

For three hours, hundreds of students held a sit-in inside Riverside Brookfield High School.

Their goal: to defend their social studies teacher, Ms. Jill Musil.

Tuesday night, the school board officially decided not to renew her contract.

“I’m really upset to see her go – it’s like this school doesn’t care,” student Erin Parcell says.

Parents like Laura Garza say the teacher was let go for being “too vocal” after racist graffiti was found scrawled on a bathroom stall during the November presidential elections.

In a letter, the school board said it did not renew her contract because she did not demonstrate professionalism.

Musil disagrees. She says she expressed a dissenting opinion to an administrator.

She defended her stance in front of the school board Tuesday night.

Musil will finish teaching for the remainder of the school year. Meantime, students and parents says their fight for her isn’t over.

District 208 Supt. Kevin Skinkis says the three-hour demonstration at the school was peaceful.

He says he and other administrators met with some of the students involved and had a productive conversation about communication and acceptance of diversity in the future.