An Arizona charter school has apologized after its yearbook listed a student with a Muslim first name as being voted "Most likely to bomb the U.S.," The Arizona Republic reported.
Parents of students from Sonoran Science Academy in Peoria said they were shocked by what they read in the yearbook.
"I looked down and read, 'Most likely to bomb the U.S.' and I just sat there for a second and thought, no way. This is not happening," Bree Brown, whose 11-year-old daughter attends the school, told KNXV.
"I thought it was a joke, I didn't believe her at first," her husband, Kian Brown, told the television station.
Matthew Benson, a school spokesman, said the yearbook entry was overlooked in the editing process.
“It was missed. There's a faculty adviser in charge of the yearbook,” Benson told the Republic. “They did not catch it.”
Questions for the yearbook included "voted most likely to ..." and "favorite memory …," which are standard features in school yearbooks.
School officials said students filled in the blanks for their own photo, and the controversial entry was written by an eighth-grader.
Sonora Science Academy Principal Deb Hofmeier apologized Monday, writing in a statement that the “entire administration team takes this seriously.”
“After speaking with the student and the student’s parents, it is apparent the comment was a misguided attempt at humor,” Hofmeier said. “There was absolutely no malicious intent on the part of the student.
“Going forward, we will be instituting a more stringent review process to ensure this cannot happen again.”
Hofmeier said the school is collecting yearbooks from students and will reissue an edited version at no extra charge.
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