SOUTH ORANGE -- School district officials are planning a community meeting to discuss the implications of and social issues surrounding a slave auction poster assignment for fifth grade students.

The controversy erupted this week when parents at the South Mountain Elementary School in South Orange visited the school for teacher conferences and saw the students' slave posters hanging up in the halls.

Parents took to social media to express outrage and organize a movement against the project.

"It is completely lost on me how this project could be an effective way to teach any student in any age group about American history," one parent wrote on Facebook.

"Educating young students on the harsh realities of slavery is of course not the issue here, but the medium for said education is grossly insensitive and negligent."

District officials say the project, part of a larger Colonial America unit for fifth grade students and one of several options students could choose to complete, has been in place for the past 10 years. Parents raised concerns after the assignment was sent home this year, Superintendent John Ramos said in a note, prompting district officials to consult education experts about it.

"One of the anti-bias experts highlighted the fact that schools all over our country often skip over the more painful aspects of American History, and that we need to do a better job of acknowledging the uglier parts of our past, so that children learn the full story," Ramos said in the note.

Still, Ramos said the projects hanging in the hallway should have been accompanied by explanations of what the children made, and why.

"We completely understand how disturbing these images are, and why parents were upset. This was exacerbated by the fact that the displays did not include an explanation of the assignment or its learning objectives," he said.

The posters have been removed from the elementary school's hallways, and the district apologized in the letter to parents who took offense. The school is planning a town hall meeting to discuss the project, district officials said, as reactions to it have been split.

"Some families are supportive of the example of a slave auction poster included in the assignment, because they see it as an important opportunity to examine this shameful and too-often ignored chapter of American history," Ramos said.

"Others are disturbed that elementary students were being asked to put themselves in the virtual shoes of people who subjugated others."

The district has not yet decided if the assignment will be part of the curriculum next year, a school spokeswoman said.

Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.