NEW ROCHELLE — A suburban New York school board has condemned a high school English staff for ripping pages out of the book “Girl, Interrupted” because of explicit sexual references.

The Board of Education said Wednesday that it did not authorize the action by the New Rochelle High School English department staff.

The principal, Donald Conetta, says the pages were actually torn out several years ago. The discovery was made this year by a 12th grade teacher.

The book, about a woman’s stay in a 1960s Massachusettes mental hospital, was made into a movie starring Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder.

The school district has ordered replacement copies of the book.