ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, N.C. — A book that has stirred up some controversy at a local high school was pulled from an English honors class after complaints were heard by the school board.

The Rockingham County School Board decided that the book “Beartown” would no longer be read or discussed in the classroom.

The book is about a junior ice hockey team and its impact on a small town riddled with issues.

Concern over the book’s language was shared by many at Monday night’s school board meeting.

“It was very disturbing. It was very vulgar and very graphic and just unnecessary,” said Christina Reichl, a concerned parent.

Community members are frustrated it ended up on a required reading list without approval.

“Whose job is it to make sure the books that are being taught are on an approved list? How many other books are being taught that are not on an approved list?” Pastor Ron Tuck said.

The school board explained, the process for reviewing education material was bypassed due to the inexperience of the teacher.

“I would like to tell you that is your responsibility to make sure that this stuff happens and the processes are followed,” Don Powell said.

The school board chair, Amanda Bell, apologized to parents and students and vowed to create a better process for evaluating educational material moving forward.