REPUBLIC, Mo. (AP) - Two months after removing two books from its curriculum and school library, a southwest Missouri school board has voted to allow them back into the library - but with strong restrictions on who will be allowed to check them out.
The Republic school board voted in July to remove Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five" and Sarah Ockler's "Twenty Boy Summer" from the school after a man who does not have children there said the books taught values contrary to the Bible. That decision triggered heated debate in Republic and prompted the decision to revise the school's book policy.
Under the revised policy approved before a packed meeting room, the board agreed to allow challenged books to be kept in a secure section of the school library. Only parents who want their children to read the book will be allowed to check it out.
"It does keep the books there in the library, and if parents want their kids to read the book, by all means come and check it out," said Superintendent Vern Minor. "It still puts the decision in parents' hands."