COEUR d’ALENE — “Of Mice and Men” could receive a reprieve tonight in the Coeur d’Alene School District.

Or, the popular Steinbeck novella may be removed from ninth-grade required reading lists.

During this evening’s school board meeting, trustees will consider whether to accept the recommendation of an ad hoc curriculum committee that concluded in April that “Of Mice and Men” contains too much profanity and is too “negative” for full-class reading and should be used only in small groups.

“This book had 102 profanities in 110 pages and the story is neither a quality story nor a page turner,” wrote committee member Mary Jo Finney, in an April statement to the committee before the group voted on the Steinbeck book. “I realize it is considered a ‘classic,’ so I have looked up the definition of classic and I will have to agree to disagree.”

Since the board heard the committee’s recommendation a month ago, the matter was open to public comment. School trustees and administrators received at least 15 written comments from members of the public and one phone call. Of the 16 contacts, 14 encouraged the board to keep the Steinbeck book available for ninth-grade teachers to assign to all students.

“My thoughts on ‘Of Mice and Men’ are that it would provide opportunities to discuss treatment of others, particularly bullying and how people deal with mentally and physically disabled, as well as attitudes toward African Americans,” wrote one of the public commenters, Jeanne Emerson, in an email to Mike Nelson, the district’s curriculum director. “The book is well written, full of good descriptions and detailed character development, both of which could be analyzed. I did not find anything I thought should not be presented and discussed in a ninth grade English class. I feel that it is appropriate for a ninth grade student to be exposed to different lives, times, and conditions.”

Emerson’s comments are reflective of most of the written responses the school district received regarding the possible limitation of in-class reading of the book.

Published in 1937, “Of Mice and Men” tells the story of the friendship of two men — George and Lennie — who are migrant farm workers making their way through California in the 1930s. George, who is uneducated but intelligent, looks out for Lennie, whose size and strength far outweigh his intellectual acuity. Lennie’s fondness for soft things like puppies, fabric and ladies’ hair leads him into trouble because he lacks the ability to moderate his great strength when trying to be gentle. George, his protector and constant companion, strives to keep Lennie safe and happy by telling Lennie the two men will one day have their own place where they will “live off the fatta’ the lan’” and Lennie will be able to have rabbits to care for.

Among the book’s many themes of dreams, poverty, racial discrimination and power relationships, euthanasia also comes up. It is foreshadowed in the mercy-killing of a ranch hand’s dog and comes up again later in the story as George continues to try to protect Lennie.

Ann Seddon, who served on the Coeur d’Alene school board by appointment from 2012 to 2013, registered her written concern about the discussion of euthanasia in the classroom.

“The stereotype of Lennie, the big mentally challenged character did bother me. It seemed based on attitudes of an earlier and less enlightened generation. Lennie is portrayed as a danger no matter how caring a heart he might have. His low I.Q. made him predisposed to violence and therefore inherently dangerous. This attitude led to people believing the lives of such people were less valuable,” Seddon wrote to the board. “I remember the days when Down syndrome children were sent to state homes. Experts pushed families to commit their children for the better good of society and their family. There was an era in the USA when the thought of eliminating those deemed unfit was gaining popularity. There was sympathy for the actions of Hitler in this regard.”

Seddon wrote that she believes many ninth-graders “lack the maturity level required” for such subject matter, and she questioned the language in the book.

“Some words do not fall under the category of ‘profane,’ but are objectionable to many Christians,” she wrote. “Should ‘dirty words’ and cursing of God and Jesus be put in the same category? Should we ask if blasphemy of Mohammed would be treated the same way?”

Seddon remarked that the compromise of moving “Of Mice and Men” to the list of books approved for small group use only “is not acceptable to some and even this suggestion has the intolerant, who claim to be tolerant calling board members ‘book burners,’” Seddon wrote. “Having a policy would help shield individual board members from targeted hate mail, as decisions could be based on well established policy agreed upon by the board. The stress of such severe pressure from local and national groups needs to be mitigated.”

She asked that the board delay making a decision on the book and use it instead in a discussion of literature guidelines and policy.

Literature guidelines and policy have long been discussed in the Coeur d’Alene School District, and book challenges have occurred several times in the last decade.

A novel review committee was set up in the school district in 2007 after Finney and another community member objected to the use of several books in the classroom, citing vulgar language and adult material they felt was harmful to minors. In 2008, the school board voted to leave Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” “Fallen Angels” by Walter Dean Myers, and “Snow Falling on Cedars” by David Guterson, on school district reading lists.

Later that year, Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” survived a similar challenge after the school district refined its book selection process in response to complaints from Finney and her husband, Gary, and several other parents.

The school district has an opt-out policy for parents to use if they object to required reading materials for their children.

This most recent book challenge has attracted national scrutiny from the media and intellectual freedom advocacy groups.

In a May 27 letter to the board, members of the New York City-based National Coalition Against Censorship cited several court cases, including a 1943 court ruling involving the West Virginia Board of Education: “The First Amendment ‘protects the citizen against the State itself and all of its creatures — Boards of Education not excepted.’

The letter, signed by the leader of several national groups, calls for the board to reject the ad hoc committee’s recommendation, and advises that decisions about instructional materials should be based on the educational merit of an entire work … not because some individuals do or do not agree with the message or content of a particular book.

The school board meeting will begin at 5 p.m. at the Midtown Center meeting room, 1505 N. Fifth Street, Coeur d’Alene.

During the meeting, in addition to other unrelated agenda items, the board will also review its policy regarding curricular materials and the establishment and membership of ad hoc committees tasked with advising the board regarding the selection of classroom reading materials.