A principal in Florida has been placed on administrative leave after a Fetty Wap lyric made it into the school yearbook. Katie O’Connell, the principal at Trout Creek Academy in St. John’s County, is facing disciplinary action over what is being characterized as inappropriate conduct after a line from the New Jersey rapper’s hit song “Trap Queen” was printed in the yearbook and attributed to her.
O’Connell maintains that she did not approve the inclusion of the lyric—”Everybody hatin’, we just call them fans though”—and asserts that the quote was not present in the final proof she reviewed before publication. “I did not put the quote in the yearbook, nor did I approve that quote to be in the yearbook,” O’Connell stated in an interview with Action News Jax on May 29.
The incident has sparked significant backlash among parents, leading to an uproar within the school community. O’Connell claims she has been subjected to harassment since the yearbook’s release and has since retained legal counsel to navigate the situation.
“There were certain parents who went straight to the district or straight to the news or straight to Facebook. None of them even called me,” O’Connell explained. “All I needed was the time or the opportunity to have fixed an error that was made, and it wasn’t made by me.”
At this time, investigators have not yet determined who was responsible for placing the quote in the yearbook. O’Connell’s administrative leave is scheduled to remain in effect through the conclusion of her contract on June 30.