Michigan private school teacher suspended after giving students 'disturbing' assignment featuring Barack Obama's photo with primates

• Students at a Michigan private school got an assignment featuring a picture of Obama next to animals.
• The assignment asked the biology students to identify the primates in the photo.

A teacher at a Michigan private school was reportedly placed on administrative leave after giving out an assignment that featured a photo of former President Barack Obama with pictures of several animals, including monkeys.

The assignment asked students to identify a primate on the worksheet, USA Today reported.

The Roeper School did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, but in a statement to CNN said the "disturbing racial offense" in the assignment was "inconsistent" with the school's values.

"We sincerely apologize for its use and the harm it has caused," the school said in its statement. "While the teacher has taken responsibility and admits the mistake of not properly vetting the resource, we know that is not enough and she has been placed on administrative leave until further notice."

WDIV-TV, a local NBC affiliate, reported that the school was closed on Thursday following threats.

Carolyn Lett, the Director of Diversity at the school, told the outlet she could not believe the assignment when she saw it and spoke with the teacher.

"I'm trying to understand this myself. But right away I had a reaction like, 'It's so wrong, I can't understand it,'" she said.

Lett told WDIV that the teacher had "her biology hat on but didn't realize the sensitivity and awareness she should have had culturally."

According to CNN, the worksheet was originally from a Duke University undergraduate assignment that was posted on the school of anthropology's website.

"We were not aware that this document was available on one of our departmental websites, and it was immediately removed once it was brought to our attention," Erin Kramer, Duke's Assistant Vice President for Media and Public Affairs, said in a statement to CNN.

Kramer said the assignment was made in 2010 by two students for an assignment and was never used as a lesson plan in a class or by a faculty member at Duke.