Brooke High School in West Virginia has apologized for allegedly using Trump Perry signs in an attempt to taunt a mostly black high school opponent.  

Over the weekend, while a controversy between NFL players and President Donald Trump brewed, students at Brooke High made a banner with the slogan "Trump Perry" in reference to their opponent Pittsburgh Perry High School. 

"The sign's message does not reflect our true beliefs nor what we want to reach our children," Toni Paesano Shute said in a letter to Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Anthony Hamlet.

"Policies were not followed by the school's administrators to ensure a climate free from bullying and harassment, and as a result, people were offended in our home. We have a moral obligation to teach our children, and we will make this a teachable moment to install the core values of respect and dignity for all."

"My mostly Black, inner-city school played this team last night & were confronted w/this. Sickening racism," Perry librarian Sheila May-Stein said in a tweet Saturday. May-Stein believed that the school allowed the students to invoke Trump's name as a racial dog whistle but the school dismissed those claims.

Brooke High football team explained on Twitter that "every home game a different theme and this one was red white & blue so we used the saying 'trump' for double meaning. Being one our president and two using the world 'trump' which also means 'beat.' Also, this was our first time ever playing them."

The banner appeared as the featured photo on an unauthorized Brooke High School football team's Twitter page until that account was taken down late Monday morning.

According to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the game went on as planned Friday and both teams were cordial to each other. 

Pittsburgh Perry High SchoolTrump Perry