Yearbook editors recently discovered the offensive photo, school officials said. (Image courtesy of WJCL)
Officials at a Savannah, Georgia high school are stumped over how a photo of a racial slur wound up in students’ yearbooks.
Windsor Forest High School students were asked to return their yearbooks this week after a color photo of a student holding up a piece of paper with the n-word written on it somehow got published, local station WSAV reported. School officials said the yearbook publisher has recalled all yearbooks and that the new prints have also been discontinued.
“We sincerely apologize for the failure to ensure that the final print was free of errors and offensive captions/pictures,” Principal Derrick Butler said in a text to parents. “Please note that this isn’t a representation of our school. Our school values and embraces diversity and believes that every individual deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.”
In his text, Butler noted that the photo was recently discovered by staff and the yearbook’s editors. Students have until May 25 to turn in their books for corrections to be made.
A spokesperson for the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System said the incident is being handled by the school but that it plans to take steps to prevent something like this from happening again, WJCL reported.
“Administrators at Windsor Forest High School regret this situation and have implemented new processes that provide greater content oversight and promote the positive delivery of material that properly represents the quality educational offerings provided at Windsor Forest High School,” the district said in a statement Friday.
It remains unclear how the slur wound up in the book in first place and if anyone will face discipline.
