Racial Slur Printed On Black Mountain Middle School's Yearbook Cover

SAN DIEGO, CA – Yearbooks at a Rancho Peñasquitos middle school had to be recalled after a racial slur was printed on the cover.

Black Mountain Middle School officials said the staff and editors at the school, which is located in the Poway Unified School District, inadvertently used a historical map from the 1800s for the cover of the 2016-2017 yearbook. The map referred to an area of San Diego County that was once known as the home of a freed slave, and used what Principal Charan Kirpalani described as a "very derogatory label."

"We deeply regret this error," Kirpalani said in a statement that was sent to parents following the incident.

Christine Paik, a spokesperson for the district, told Patch that the school recalled all yearbooks sent to eighth grade students and delayed the distribution of books to sixth and seventh graders. The word, which was originally over the second "o" in the word "Looking," was scratched out from all of the yearbooks and will be distributed to students Wednesday, Paik said.

School officials said counselors and district staff are available to discuss the matter with parents and students.

Read the full message to parents from the principal below:

"In using a historical map from the 1800s of northern San Diego County, our staff and yearbook editors inadvertently used a background image for the cover of this year's yearbook containing a highly offensive racial term. This was a reference to an area of San Diego County on Palomar Mountain which was once known as the home of a freed slave, and referred to with a very derogatory label. We deeply regret this error and have recalled all yearbooks distributed to grade 8 students and will delay distributing the books to our grade 6 and 7 students. We understand how important the yearbooks are to our students and are working on getting their memories to them. We are making the correction and will redistribute the yearbooks as soon as possible. Please contact us with any concerns. I am available, along with our counselors and district staff should any parent or student wish to discuss this matter and our school and district response to this regrettable incident."

Photo: The cover of Black Mountain Middle School's 2016-2017 yearbook. / Courtesy of Poway Unified School District