HARFORD COUNTY, Md. — The Harford County Board of Education is doubling down on its fight to keep the book Flamer out of the area's schools.
WATCH: Harford County Board of Education to appeal state ruling on banning the book "Flamer"
The school board ruled to appeal the state board's decision to add the book back to school shelves.
The ruling came despite the board's counsel telling members they have a less than 20 percent chance of winning.
The decision came as a disappointment to some parents like Stacey Albrecht.
"I hate to say it, but pessimistic. I don't like that we keep having to have this fight," Albrecht said, "I don't believe in other people dictating what my children can and can't read. That's my job as a parent."
But other parents online are praising the county board's decision on social media.
One woman wrote, "It's about the State overstepping local authority and undermining the ability of parents and communities to have a voice in what is available to our children."
School Librarian Tracy Papinchock served on the committee that drafted the reconsideration procedure.
She told WMAR 2 News how she felt after the board initially banned the book.
"Given how much work that we all put into creating the reconsideration procedure, I was very disappointed by how the board handled it because I felt that they didn't honor the work and hours that the committee put in to making sure that we had a solid quality product," Papinchock said.
Librarian Pete Hicks was a part of the reconsideration committee that decided Flamer was okay for schools.
"We sat down and met for over an hour and just had really in-depth discussions about both the complaint and the text itself, going through page by page, sometimes line by line, to come to our decision as a group," Hicks said.
But the board ultimately went against their findings.
"Disappointment in a way that they didn't take our work as seriously as we took it."
Parents against the book say it's too provocative and explicit for their kids.
Middle School teacher George Kasnic told us that as a parent, he understands the desire to advocate for your child, but he looks at the situation from many different angles.
"As a taxpayer, I'd say we cut 100 positions last year and spending more money on a case that isn't right, and we're probably gonna lose is unwise. As a veteran who was in Germany when the wall came down and spent a year under fire in Iraq, banning books is the type of things I fought against," Kasnic said.
The situation now heads to the Harford County Circuit Court.
