Merrill School Board votes down banning 'Montana 1948'
MERRILL -- "Montana 1948" will continue to be taught in Merrill High School, despite the efforts of a group of parents to ban it from the district.
In a special meeting Monday night, the Merrill School Board voted 7-2 against a proposal that could have led to the book's immediate removal from the district's schools. Brad Geiss and Loretta Baughan supported the measure.
"Montana 1948," written by Larry Watson, a former University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point English professor, is a coming-of-age novel that includes mature themes of rape, sex and abuse of power, and uses obscene language.
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Board member Lin Kautza, a former English teacher, said the book does have mature themes and language that are offensive. But taken in context, "that's the point," she said, "it's to show you how disgusting a person is who has that type of behavior. ... That is the type of thing you want your students to look at."
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