PENNINGTON, NJ (CBSNewYork) — It was a controversy Hopewell Valley Central High School didn’t see coming.

The school in Pennington, NJ served a lunch menu that included fried chicken, cornbread, sweet potato casserole, sauteed spinach, mac and cheese, and peach and apple crisps — the idea was to celebrate Black History Month.

Sophomore Caroline Herbert says the menu was the talk of the school last Thursday.

“They were saying the lunch menu was showing some stereotypically black food choices on the menu,” she tells CBS2’s Jessica Borg.

The school fielded several complaints from district residents who claimed it was offensive. The superintendent refused to go on camera Tuesday, only offering a printed out copy of the school’s apology that was emailed to parents and students throughout the district.

The apology in part says, “The decision to include these items without any context or explanation reinforces racial stereotypes and is not consistent with our district mission.”

It’s not clear whether or not this menu was served up in any previous year.

The school has about 1,200 students — most of whom are white.

“I think what they were trying to get at is soul food,” Pennington resident Owen Corbett says. “I think it was just the wording, maybe.”

Historian Neil Brunson tells CBS2 the school’s intentions were good, but it missed a chance to teach students about the meaning behind soul food.

“Listen, kids and food gets their attention immediately,” he says, “and then once you have their attention for the next five minutes, at least you can do something with it.”

The district blames their food vendor, Pomptonian, for the menu choices that some have viewed as insensitive. CBS2 reached out to the Fairfield based company several times but has not received a response.

Student Ben Morreale has no problem with the menu and says the uproar was an overreaction.

“What I thought of is if it was Italian-American Month and you wanted to celebrate with food, you’d have sausage and nobody would have a problem with that,” he said.

Unfortunately, what was meant to unite people over food left some students feeling left out.