The Wayne Hills High School football team is back in the playoffs this weekend after being initially banned. 

But parents now want to know why the team was banned in the first place. It turned ugly at a board meeting Thursday night.

The Wayne Board of Education will launch an independent investigation into how everything got started with the football team.

Fallout from the case has apparently created tension and confusion between the district, students and parents. 

"What happened to this football team has torn this town apart, and it comes down to the responsibility that somebody decided on their own to self-report," says Rex Matthew, the father of a student.

Several parents and residents told the board that Superintendent Mark Toback acted inappropriately and jumped the gun when he self-reported a potential eligibility violation to the NJSIAA without fully investigating the residency situation of two student-athletes. 

At the meeting, Toback said he went to the association seeking guidance and that's when everything snowballed. 

Things reached a boiling point toward the end of the meeting when board member Allan Mordkoff said students are resilient and they'll get over it.

The board president adjourned the meeting after unable to regain order. The meeting had already lasted four hours.

Wayne Hills plays Roxbury in the quarterfinals on Sunday.