Photo Courtesy of Roeper School
A prominent Michigan private school faced criticism after a teacher gave students an assignment using former President Barack Obama’s photo to identify primates in the worksheet earlier this month.
According to Fox 2, the assignment entitled ‘an introduction to primates’ was passed out to the students by a biology teacher at Roeper School. The private school is located in Birmingham, Michigan– a northern suburb of Detroit.
According to the lesson, students were given several photos of apes, monkeys, and lemurs, instructing them to pick which ones were considered primates. However, in the second row was a picture of Obama.
The outlet obtained a copy of the assignment after someone called out the school for the racist task given by the teacher.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for The Roeper School provided the news outlet with a statement explaining the context of the worksheet.
“We are aware of the lesson taught and continue to review the incident. We are not providing additional information out of respect for the privacy of our community members.”
The school addressed the controversial issue in a letter sent to parents, explaining that the assignment was taken from a ‘highly regarded university’ website and given to students in the biology class.
“On behalf of Roeper School’s leadership, I would like to acknowledge the disturbing racial offense contained in this worksheet and sincerely regret its use and the harm it has caused,” the letter read.
The letter also stated that the unidentified teacher had taken responsibility for the assignment, claiming they didn’t properly vet the source.
School officials said students would be given counseling following the incident, prompting teachers to participate in training to combat racial bias in the classroom.
According to the website, Roeper School is the oldest K through 12 private school in the United States. It opened in 1941 and became a learning institution for gifted children in 1956. Tuition at Roeper is slightly over $30,000 annually.