Catholic School Principal Placed on Leave After Viral ‘White Trash’ Recording

What began as a heated confrontation inside a Catholic high school classroom has now exploded into a community-wide controversy.

A principal at St. Joseph High School in Orcutt, California, was placed on administrative leave after a recording surfaced in which she allegedly slammed students’ conduct as “some of the most white trash public school behavior I have ever seen” as reported by KSBY News.

Erinn Dougherty, principal of St. Joseph High School, was placed on leave pending a review of “verbal comments made in a meeting of students,” according to a letter sent to parents on Friday, May 15.

Michael Ronan, superintendent for the Santa Barbara region, wrote the letter on behalf of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

In the letter, he mentioned that the archdiocese does not tolerate any behavior that compromises the respect, trust, or dignity of its students.

Parent Monte Nash shared the letter with the outlet.

In the said recording, Dougherty can be heard slamming students for filming a fight between two classmates rather than intervening to stop it.

A voice students identified as Dougherty is heard in the clip saying “people do not pay $15,000 a year for that” and characterizing such behavior as belonging to “the little workers” — people who will “never own a home.”

Jose Corona, whose child attends the school, said Dougherty was simply disciplining the class, and her words were taken out of context.

Nash, a dad of two daughters at the school, argued that a teacher present during the altercation should have stepped in earlier.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles declined to discuss specifics but said graduation requirements and festivities will remain on schedule.

Both parents said Dougherty should still take part in the graduation ceremony. Nash called the timing of her leave excessive, while Corona described the decision as “absolutely wrong.”