Duchesne School District officials already reprimanded teacher Glenda Norviel after a 16-year-old student said Norviel reacted inappropriately after she and her mother complained about her English class reading My Sister's Keeper, a best-selling novel by Jodi Picoult.

The girl's English teacher excused her from reading the book, and as an alternative assignment, the girl wrote an essay about being raped and then having a child. The parent and student said Norviel assigned the girl the essay topic in front of classmates. Norviel has said the girl chose the essay topic with her in private.

Norviel has said she didn't think the book, which includes several swear words, would offend the girl.

"The girl is not an innocent . . . If she has just had a baby six weeks ago, is reading the f-word going to cause her emotional trauma for the rest of her life?" Norviel told The Tribune recently.

Attempts to reach Norviel for further comment today were unsuccessful.

District officials have given Norviel, a first-year teacher, a letter of reprimand which will be put into her personnel file and could affect her evaluation and/or teaching status, said district superintendent John Aland. They've also forwarded information to the Utah Professional Practices Advisory Commission, which investigates teacher misconduct and makes recommendations to the Utah Board of Education about teacher licensing.

The commission will meet Friday to decide whether to investigate the issue or leave further action up to the district, said Carol Lear, the commission's executive secretary.

"If this were to have happened exactly the way the student said, that seems pretty outrageous," Lear said.

The girl and her mother also say a substitute teacher reacted inappropriately toward her. They say Gala Hamilton told the girl she shouldn't be offended because she'd already "been around the block."

Hamilton said that's untrue.

"I have teenage daughters, and I would never say something like that, never in a million years," Hamilton said.

Hamilton said while she and the girl were talking at school another student approached them and asked the girl several times who her baby's father was. Hamilton said the girl wouldn't respond so she told the boy to go read the newspaper and not talk about it in school.

Hamilton said she regretted directing the boy to the newspaper and apologized to the girl. Later, Hamilton, the principal, the girl and her mother met to discuss the situation and Hamilton said she again apologized for making the girl feel uncomfortable.

"I thought we kind of had it behind us," Hamilton said. Tabiona School Principal Robert Park said he has counseled all the school's teachers about confidentiality and carefully choosing assignments. He said no further action has been taken regarding Hamilton, who is not a licensed teacher.

"We've tried to take care of what the mother has requested and taken care of the situation here at school, and I feel we're ready to move on," Park said.

The girl's mother said the district hasn't done enough and she'd like to see both teachers fired.

"This is a slap on the hand, and she shouldn't get away with it," the mother said of Norviel. Her daughter has since transferred to a different school.

"I don't feel welcome when I go to school anymore," the girl said. "I'm losing all my friends over this."

The Tribune has a policy of not identifying rape victims. Identifying the girl's mother could identify her.

The district also removed the book from the classroom after another parent complained and is considering a new policy to guide teachers in choosing materials.