The Hollidaysburg Area School District finds itself in the middle of a firestorm concerning a teacher’s decision to bring a sexually explicit book into her classroom.

“Gender Queer,” the book in question, is a graphic novel memoir by Maia Kobabe on the author’s journey to identifying as non-binary — neither male nor female.

When the book was openly visible to students in the classroom of English teacher Nicole Stouffer, it drew the attention of the community and spread through social media.

An estimated 300 people showed up at the Hollidaysburg Area Junior High School on Monday night as the school board addressed the matter, and comments from the public lasted nearly two hours.

Strong feelings exists on both sides of this issue, and we fall onto the side of being most troubled by the teacher’s actions.

The book has no place in a seventh grade classroom, and the graphic nature that includes sexual positioning is outrageous for students of this age.

To be clear: We are not talking about homosexuality.

We would feel the same way if a graphic novel depicting two heterosexual individuals in sexual positions was found in a seventh grade classroom — or even in a school library with books available to older junior high or high school students.

It’s simply not the place for it.

If a teacher — male or female — brought a magazine that included nude illustrations into a seventh grade classroom, it would be inappropriate, show bad judgment and would have to be addressed.

Because “Gender Queer” includes drawings that we deem pornographic, this is worse.

Stouffer made a reckless decision, and her level of remorse — if she has any — should be a factor in her continued employment, which absolutely should be challenged.

Stouffer, of course, is free to read whatever she wants, but that doesn’t mean it should be discussed with seventh grade students.

She is the same teacher who was reprimanded for asking seventh graders how they identify themselves via preferred pronouns, Superintendent Bob Gildea confirmed.

In our estimation, this is way over the line, and the parents expressing concern have every right to be upset. Gender discussions should take place at home.

Perhaps a sex-education class can be offered to older students — high school students — with an emphasis on diversity and inclusion. We see no issue with that.

Maybe parts of the “Gender Queer” narrative can be discussed in such a class — of self-identification and of feeling welcome and safe — but we are not comfortable with the graphic nature of “Gender Queer” in a public school setting, regardless of grade level.

The district is reevaluating its policy of adult/student boundaries, specifically outlining appropriate teacher/student relationships and what is and isn’t acceptable in terms of religious, political and sexual topics.

The proposed additions to the policy would bar teachers from “prominently” displaying materials and items of a religious, sexual or political nature in their classrooms. They also would not be allowed to bring up conversations with students on gender orientation or preferred pronouns.

We urge the school board to be transparent, to get to the truth of the matter and reassure parents that inappropriate material will not find its way into the classroom again.