A panel appointed by the Billings school board recommended Monday that the book “Assassination Classroom” be banned from school classrooms and libraries.

The panel included three board members, Jennifer Hoffman, Andrea Nemitz and Brooke Wagner. The three discussed the graphic novel at a meeting at the Lincoln Center and concerns brought forward by a parent. The book by Yusei Matsui was challenged and reviewed by Billings School District 2 following a complaint about violent content.

“I just have a difficult time in our current climate in having a series of books, whether it’s fictitious, science fiction, manga, whatever it is that depicts and glorifies killing our teachers,” said Hoffman. “We love our teachers and want nothing but our teachers to be safe, and I know that there’s a lot of people that see it differently and see that this book is purely entertainment.”

At the meeting, members of the public were allowed to comment on whether it should be banned from the district. One attendee, Darrell James, a former educator and substitute teacher for the district, spoke against the ban and said the popular book can be a positive for some students.

“They didn’t read this book. They found a sensational graphic and they cherry-picked something that they found offensive without understanding it in context at all. This book is what we call a modern allegory. ‘Assassination Classroom’ is an allegory about an oppressive and rigid educational system that lets the misfits slide,“ said James.

“There’s a reason other states are jealous of Montana and other countries are jealous of the United States. We have strong personal freedoms and personal responsibilities. If you ban books, you take our right to exercise both of those away from us. No more personal freedom and no more personal responsibility. I don’t need and I don’t want students to be parented by the government. Let’s leave it to the experts,” said James.

KTVQ: Billings school panel to recommend banning of 'Assassination Classroom' in library