The principal of an all-girls Christian private school in Northern California has apologized over a lunch menu supposedly intended to celebrate Black History Month that included cornbread, fried chicken and watermelon.

“I’d like to apologize for the announcement and any hurt this caused students, parents or community members,” Nancy Libby, principal at Carondelet High School for Girls in Concord, said in a letter to parents.

“Please know that at no time at Carondelet do we wish to perpetrate racial stereotypes,” Libby added.

According to NBC Bay Area, students at the school were trying to come up with ways to mark the month with a lunchtime celebration.


But many students and parents were offended when the school announced the lunch menu.

There was an assembly at the school to discuss the issue Wednesday, and in the letter, Libby said the school also plans to have a diversity assembly in the aftermath of the incident.

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ari.bloomekatz@latimes.com