Enid school board votes to table issue on novel

ENID, Okla. (AP) -- The decision on whether to restrict high school students' access to "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is on hold for a television program.<br><br>Members of the Southern Heights

Tuesday, January 11th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

ENID, Okla. (AP) -- The decision on whether to restrict high school students' access to "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is on hold for a television program.

Members of the Southern Heights Ministerial Alliance asked the school last fall to remove the book by Mark Twain from a list of required reading. The alliance wants the book to remain on library shelves.

The board voted 5-1 on Monday to delay a decision on the issue to allow further study. Board member Willa Jo Fowler suggested they
watch a Public Broadcasting System show about the novel called "Born to Trouble: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." It is part of
the "Culture Shock" series airing Jan. 26.

Board members are considering a recommendation from a textbook review committee, which met in late-November and mid-December.

The committee decided the book should be taught in the enriched American literature course, but not in the regular or advanced
placement American literature courses.

Alliance members said they were offended by words used to describe blacks in the Twain novel, which was set in the late 1800s.

The Rev. Alfred Baldwin, Jr., president of the alliance, said he plans to review the PBS series.