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Outrage over racial slur in photo of HS seniors

Posted at 2:34 PM, Jan 22, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-22 16:42:10-05

Several Arizona high school students are in hot water after donning an offensive message and posting the evidence on social media.

Parents began contacting our sister station ABC15 on Friday about a photo that was apparently taken by a group of students at Desert Vista High School in Phoenix and then posted on social media.

In the photo, six girls are seen grouped together smiling while "N-I-*-*-E-R" is spelled out in individual gold letters across their black shirts.

A separate picture from a Desert Vista parent on Instagram showed the girls' lettered shirts as part of a larger message spelling out "BEST*YOU'VE*EVER*SEEN*CLASS*OF*2016".

Jill Hanks, executive director of community relations for Tempe Union High School District, said in an emailed statement, "We are absolutely aware and outraged by this behavior. The students will be disciplined in accordance with district policy and while we don't discuss specific discipline I can tell you that will be addressing the obvious need for sensitivity training in this case."

Note: ABC15 has edited the photos to blur the faces of the alleged students involved.