BOSTON – A Boston school chose to commemorate the events of 9/11 by reading an Islamic poem instead of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

On the morning of the 12^th anniversary of September 11, Concord Carlisle High School students were treated with the reading of an Islamic poem entitled “My Grandmother Washes Her Feet in the Sink of the Bathroom at Sears,” reports The Blaze.

The poem was apparently read in place of the Pledge of Allegiance.

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Skipping the pledge, on a day when an entire nation was remembering the events of the worst terror attack in U.S. history, is shameful.

Principal Peter Badalament offered an apology, noting that the failure to read the Pledge was an error and the poem’s intention was to offer up “cross-cultural understanding,” reports the Boston Globe.

If you couldn’t already tell from the title, the subject of the poem is about a young girl’s grandmother who ceremonially washes her feet in a SEARS department store. The Blaze reports the poem offers a look at a “clash of civilizations.”

There were a number of parents who were angry with the handling of the situation and contacted the school though emails and phone calls.

“Yesterday was the first Wednesday of the school year; we were unaware that our student Pledge reader had an internship commitment on this day,” read the statement. “This was our responsibility to know. We humbly apologize that this oversight and communication gap occurred.”

We understand that the first week or so of school can be a little hectic, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that there is apparently only one person in the entire school who is capable of reading the Pledge.

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Noticing that the “Pledge reader” was gone for the morning and considering that they obviously remembered it was 9/11 because someone was reciting the poem, couldn’t the school staff have found one person willing to step up and volunteer to read the Pledge?

Unfortunately, the students and staff were robbed of a way to properly honor our country on such a tragic anniversary.