Principals Center Collaborative Principal Kevin Kerr said while the album created by students at his school for youth offenders will likely spark controversy, the students' efforts were, nonetheless, "almost heroic," the San Francisco Chronicle reported Friday.

"The whole point of the school is to help kids work out their problems," Kerr said. "Every day these kids show up, it's almost heroic."

Francisca Sanchez, San Francisco associate superintendent of academics and professional development, also defended the Lyrical Minded 415 project despite its questionable material.

"It's the first time an institution has allowed them to voice their lives and experiences in the way they've lived them," Sanchez told the Chronicle.

The newspaper said the album was created by 12 students who had brushes with the law and took several months and $50,000 in school funds to complete.