School district rescinds decision on banned book

WENTZVILLE, Mo. (AP) – A suburban St. Louis school district has reversed its earlier decision to remove a book from its school libraries in the face of criticism and a class-action lawsuit.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Wentzville School Board on Friday accepted a review committee’s recommendation to retain Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” which it had previously banned because of its explicit descriptions of sex, violence, rape and incest.

School board vice president Daniel Brice says the district should “tighten its policies” regarding some books, but he notes that parents already had the right to request that certain titles not be available to their children.