Story highlights Posters have been taken down from school in South Orange, New Jersey

Some parents had complained about the assignment

(CNN) A New Jersey schools superintendent has apologized for a "culturally insensitive" assignment in which fifth-graders learning about Colonial America were asked to create posters advertising slave auctions.

The posters have been taken down from walls at South Mountain Elementary School and the assignment will be rethought next year, the superintendent said.

Some parents had complained about the auction posters, which contained such wording as "Men: aged from 20-26, strong" and "Anne, aged 12 years, a fine house girl."

Students also had created wanted posters, apparently for for runaway slaves, that depicted brown-skinned men and women with dollar rewards attached.

A "wanted" poster on display at South Mountain Elementary School.

"While it was not our intention, we recognize that the example of a slave auction poster, although historically relevant, was culturally insensitive," said Dr. John J. Ramos, Sr., superintendent of the South Orange-Maplewood School District.

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