WATERTOWN, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Watertown Interim Superintendent James Feil is feeling the heat Monday night, after he sent a letter to parents last week about an upcoming theater performance.

Feil says the district is not allowing the performance of “Flashdance” for the high school spring musical.

“We’re not canceling the performance, I just directed them to find a different play,” Feil said.

The letter cites district policies that don’t allow the performance. 

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“I get concerns that they’re doing Flashdance the Musical, and why are we doing this, and people have expressed concern,” Feil said. “I immediately started looking into it and I immediately put a stop so that we wouldn't sign a contract and we wouldn’t move forward.”

At Monday night’s school board meeting, dozens of parents and others protested outside, searching for answers and calling out the decision.

“We think it’s absolutely appalling that one person who's never even seen the production, or read the script, can come in and take it away from these kids,” parent Tiffany Schulz said.

Schulz has a daughter at the high school who is a part of the theater program and already had a spot in the performance.

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“The arts are important, they in fact give you a well-rounded education, so the fact that we’re trying to attack the program is ridiculous,” Schulz said.

Parents want teachers to be trusted and say the current theater teacher is already making the performance more school friendly.

“I understand people are like, 'you can’t edit things.' Ryan makes edits to shows to make sure they are appropriate,” Schulz said.

Despite concerns, Feil is not budging on his decision.

“I have not changed my mind, and that has been the big issue with people - very constructively, for the most part - asking me to reconsider and build their case. But I gave a lot of consideration,” Feil said.