Photos by Mark Molesworth

An estimated 200 Staples High School students walked out of class Friday morning in support of fired boys’ soccer coach Russell Oost-Lievense.

The Board of Education, following a marathon 14-hour hearing on Monday at Westport Town Hall, voted 5-1 to not reinstate the popular coach’s job despite wide support from the Staples sports community. Only board member Robert Harrington voted not to support the decision. A seventh board member, Kevin Christie, recused himself.

Students began to file out of classes at around 9 a.m., under the watchful eyes of escorts by Principal Stafford Thomas and other staff members. Westport Police kept things safe by blocking off the school’s parking lot and keeping media and other supporters across the street from the school’s North Avenue. That didn’t keep parents and other supporters from the cheering the students on.

Staples High School administrators suspended three soccer coaches amid allegations of physical and verbal assaults after an incident that took place at a retreat by the Staples High School boys soccer team last August. Their contracts subsequently were not renewed.

Rumors about what happened at the soccer team retreat circulated through the local sports community for weeks until the issue burst into public view when Jonny Costello, a Staples senior and varsity soccer player, addressed the Board of Education in January.

Costello told the board he was the player at the center of an “incident of physical assault by an assistant coach,” but denied that he or his family reported it to school district officials.

In his statement, Costello said he was interviewed about the incident only after Athletic Director VJ Sarullo received an “anonymous” tip. Officials then declined to renew the contracts for three of the team’s assistant coaches. Monday’s hearing, which led to the decision to fire Oost-Lievense, was a legally-required opportunity for his case to be heard by the school board.