Assistant school principal told to stop popping students' toes

Catholic school nuns used to have a reputation for wrapping knuckles with rulers, and some hard-line principals hang paddles with holes in them on their office walls. But toe popping? This unique way to get the attention of wayward students appeared to be a favourite of a King High School assistant principal, although whether it is considered corporal punishment is up for debate.

Five students told authorities they had their toes popped by Olayinka Alege after their grades had slipped. None said the toe popping hurt, but some said it did feel kind of weird. The toe popping ended up under investigation by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and was even reviewed by the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office, both of which concluded there didn't appear to be any criminality involved. In May, deputies interviewed five students and Alege, who, after he was read his rights, declined to talk to detectives, a report said.

Some of the students, whose names were not released by the sheriff's office, felt the toe popping was strange, but none said it hurt or injured them. One student told deputies he was called into Alege's office this past school year to discuss the student's declining grades and was ordered to remove a shoe and sock, "and lift up a foot and Mr. Alege popped his toes by pulling them out and bending them down."



Alege told one student that, "He could not hit him so the toe popping was a form of punishment," the report said. The student told deputies it didn't hurt, but the student "felt it was weird."

Another student said he was told by Alege that, " 'I will pop a toe for each bad grade you have.' " The student said the incident made him feel uncomfortable, but he was not injured, the report said. And another student told deputies he has had his toes popped by Alege about 20 times. "When he gets bad grades," the report said of the student, "he gets his toes popped."

Some students found the toe popping humorous and laughed about it, the report said. One told deputies that his toes were popped so often, that whenever he is called into the assistant principal's office, "he just gives Mr. Alege his foot."

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