Francis Haney

Francis Haney (formerly Herbert Haney ) is the principal of Lakewood Elementary. He oversees everything happening in the school, whether it be school events, bad behavior from pupils, school renovations, etc. Besides being the principal, he is very active in the community of Elwood City, and often takes part in managing or competing in public events, especially if they are sponsored by the school.

Mr. Haney is known to have had bad luck for no apparent reason, often getting hit by things that land on his head or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Everybody responds by saying, "Sorry, Sir". His luck has improved in later seasons, though. He also has a niece and nephew who appear in "Return of the King" who are tutored by Mr. Ratburn's former 3rd Grade teacher, Mr. Pryce-Jones. He is also a tax customer of one of his pupil's, Arthur Read's, mother, as revealed in "Arthur's Mystery Envelope" when he gives Arthur an envelope filled with tax documents. Arthur at first thinks that it contains information regarding him, but later finds out it does not.

In the first few seasons of the show, there was a running gag with Mr. Haney. He'd randomly appear as a toy or a balloon, or something bad would happen to him, such as burgers hitting him on the face or being knocked off of his bed by the Tooth Fairy.

Appearance
Mr. Haney is a bear with a light grey fur. He is often seen wearing a light blue jacket suit over a white shirt and an orange and blue striped tie. He also wears dark blue pants with brown loafers and glasses. He is one of the few characters in the series depicted with fur, as opposed to a complexion like most of the characters that have human-like skin tones.

In the Arthur books, Mr. Haney is usually depicted wearing a green suit rather than a blue one. However, beginning in season 16 of Arthur, Mr. Haney has started wearing a green suit on the show.

Personality
Mr. Haney is a kind character who cares deeply about the well-being of his students, but will deal a stern stance if they do anything to disrupt the day for their class or their teachers. He also can be a bit clueless, having been talked out of giving a punishment by students like Binky Barnes, though this happens only on rare occasions. He suffers from dyslexia.

Trivia

 * Mr. Haney is seen walking past the library with a dog on a leash pulling him in D.W.'s Imaginary Friend.
 * In the "The Boy with His Head in the Clouds", he is revealed to have dyslexia.
 * In the early Arthur books before the cartoon, Mr. Haney was known simply as "The Principal", and he wasn't given a name until the cartoon.
 * Mr. Haney is only ever referred to as "Sir" by his students in "Arthur vs. the Piano".
 * In "Revenge of the Chip", D.W. and Arthur at the movies, and D.W. gets on top of the seats behind her, because there was a moose in front of her, and she couldn't see anything. She is holding a popcorn and a drink, and, as she falls, she lands in Arthur's lap and drops the popcorn on Mr. Haney's head, and Arthur chuckles nervously, saying, "Sorry, sir" as if he doesn't know who Mr. Haney is, almost as if he's a random person.
 * As revealed in "D.W. Tricks the Tooth Fairy", Mr. Haney is single.
 * Herbert Haney gets hurt in "Arthur vs. the Piano".
 * In the early season of Arthur, certain items are shown that look like him.
 * In Arthur's Birthday we see a piñata that looks like Mr. Haney.
 * In Arthur Bounces Back, when he presses a button on a toy robot, it changed into Mr. Haney.
 * According to wetalearningmedia, Marc Brown tells the viewers at home that Arthur's principal, Mr. Haney was HIS principal at Lakewood Elementary. That's who he is based on.