Marching band members at a Georgia high school are facing disciplinary action after spelling out the word “c–n” instead of their team’s name during a halftime show at a Friday football game, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Musicians from Brookwood High School in Gwinnett County inexplicably arranged themselves during its game against Lakeside High School to spell out the racist term using instrument covers that are typically assembled to display the word Broncos in reference to the school’s mascot, according to a letter to students and parents from the school’s principal.

“For those of you who have attended our games, you may have noticed that the sousaphones (a brass instrument similar to a tuba) wear covers in the stands to show school spirit,” Principal William Bo Ford Jr. wrote in the letter, which was obtained by the newspaper. “The covers spell out BRONCOS and some of them feature our Bronco mascot.”

Band members typically don’t wear the covers on the field, however, because they muffle the sound from their instrument. The musicians are also not in the same order on the field as they are arranged in the stands, Ford wrote.

“That said, last night during what was already a very busy senior night, we experienced several personnel challenges that resulted in our band director not being on the field when the band took the field,” Ford continued. “With that in mind, when the sousaphone players took the field, they did not follow band rules and normal practice, and instead, they left the covers on their instruments.”

The students involved will now be disciplined and the high school’s halftime procedures will be reviewed, Ford said.

“Not only was the appearance of this term during our halftime show hurtful and disrespectful to audience members, it also was disappointing, as it does not reflect the standards and beliefs of our school and community,” his statement continued.

Staffers at the high school aren’t expected to be disciplined in connection with the prank, but an investigation is ongoing, a spokeswoman for Gwinnett County Schools told the newspaper.

Some parents who were at the game said they were outraged by what they saw — and called for the students involved to be expelled.

“You’re bold enough on senior night, that means your parents and grandparents are there … you’re bold enough to spell those words, and stay long enough to have everyone take pictures?” mother Shawn Myers told WAGA. “That’s not right.”

Myers, whose son is a freshman in the Brookwood High School band, said he’s now uncomfortable returning to school.

“Haven’t heard it in years, it’s to belittle black people, it’s an insult,” Myers said of the term. “It’s just like saying the N-word, but this is worse because it’s coming from students at a public high school.”

Myers said she wants the students punished harshly, regardless of whether it was a senior prank gone awry.

“I don’t even know if this is a black-white issue because my understanding is a couple of them were not white, so they just did something that was wrong and they need to be held accountable,” she said. “I want them expelled. I will not stop until these students are expelled. They do not need to be back in that school until they learn that everyone is there for the same reason — regardless of color — to get an education.”