'We don't have kings in America': Parents' outrage forces elementary school to scrap policy requiring students to KNEEL before principal



Your highness: Calimesa Elementary School Principal Dana Carter had instituted a safety policy requiring students to kneel before him at various times during the school day

Dana Carter is neither king nor pope, but until this week, the principal of a California elementary school had a policy in place requiring his students to kneel before him.

School district officials in San Bernardino County announced Tuesday that kids at Calimesa Elementary School will no longer have to 'take a knee' at various times during the day and wait for Principal Carter or other school officials to dismiss them.

Carter, who was appointed to head the school only three months ago according to his LinkedIn profile, apparently instituted the kneeling policy as a safety measure.

According to a flyer that had been circulated among parents, the former gym teacher-turned-school administrator aimed to enforce safety in 'a positive way' by requiring children to drop down on one knee before classes and after recess.

No everyone, however, was on board with Carter's unusual approach to on-campus safety.

Yucaipa Calimesa Unified School District Superintendent Cali Binks told KCAL9 the policy will no longer be enforced after several parents had complained.

One mother, who has a seven-year-old daughter at Calimesa, told the station that her daughter was being forced to drop down on one knee with her hands at her side, wait for the principal to come out, lift his arms and tell them to go to class.

Genuflection 101: Kids at Calimesa Elementary School had been required to 'take a knee' at before classes and after recess and wait for Principal Carter to dismiss them

Parental backlash: The school district was forced to do away with the odd safety policy after some parents complained in reaction to a flyer that had been circulated criticizing the kneeling

‘I feel that the principal wants to be like a king, and we don’t have kings in America,’ she added.

On Tuesday, parents received mass phone notifications informing them that students will no longer be required to genuflect effective immediately.