The student's presentation had little specifically to do with the Ku Klux Klan, said a classmate.

Students at a US high school in Wisconsin were stunned when a classmate put on a Ku Klux Klan costume to deliver an English class presentation.

The incident at Westosha Central High School sparked outrage in the community and the school's principal expressed her disappointment in a statement.

"As any of you would be, I was appalled by the photo," said Lisa Albrecht.

Photos of the presentation emerged online on Monday after enraged classmates posted them on social media.

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One in particular has been shared more than 100 times.

In it, the student can be seen draped in a white sheet, with holes cut out for the eyes and nose. A screen behind the student displays the words "Crime in the 1920s".

Jessica Batko, a classmate of the student, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel their 11th-grade honours English class has been reading The Great Gatsby. Students were assigned to research a topic related to the 1920s, and this student chose to focus on crime, but he provided little information specific to the KKK, Batko said.

"There was only a student teacher in the room at the time and she never told him to take it off; however, she did talk to him after class," said Batko.

School officials declined to be interviewed.

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