A room full of supporters joined Ronda Kiesser in the Billings School District 2 board room Thursday in her attempt to have "Red Sky at Morning" by Richard Bradford removed from the reading list for freshman English classes.

In February, Kiesser filed a formal, written "request for reconsideration of media" and said the book contains excessive profanity and includes sexually suggestive passages that she believes are not appropriate for 14-year-olds.

But in the end the three-member board panel of Board Chairman Malcolm Goodrich and trustees Kathy Kelker, and Mary Jo Fox did not make any ruling on the book. Instead, they ruled that the district's media review committee followed board policy when it reviewed the book. The committee, made up of a teacher, librarian, principal and parent, decided in March that the book should remain on the reading list.

At each grade level, the district has a list of available titles that are deemed appropriate for each age group. Teachers choose books from the list, and high school teachers usually teach from up to six titles a year. All of the books were approved by a curriculum committee at the time they were adopted.

"Red Sky at Morning" is a coming-of-age story about a teenage boy who moves to New Mexico from Alabama during World War II. The boy experiences culture shock in the mostly Mexican community where he lives while his father serves in the U.S. Navy. The book has been in use in SD2 for more than 20 years.

The profanity and sexual references in the book were brought to Kiesser's attention by her 14-year-old daughter, who told her mother she was uncomfortable reading the book. Kiesser first voiced her concern to her daughter's teacher, who offered an alternative book, which could be used to teach the same concepts taught using Bradford's book.

Kiesser said she and her daughter were not told they could request a different book until they talked to the teacher.

The alternative was "Warriors Don't Cry" by Melba Pattillo Beals, a memoir on racial integration at a high school in Little Rock in 1957.

Kiesser's daughter and another girl in the class both chose to read the alternative book. They were given assignments on the book but were required to sit in the hall outside the classroom during the two weeks "Red Sky at Morning" was discussed.

Skyview English teacher Kathy Pfaffinger, who is on the review committee, said most all the books on the high school reading lists at every grade level include profanity and other possibly offensive themes, including racism and sexual references.

"I can think of very few that would be left (on the list)" Pfaffinger said. "No Nobel Prize books would be left or any of the books used in the AP classes."