{"id":294068,"date":"2026-06-03T06:20:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T06:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/294068\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T06:20:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T06:20:07","slug":"florida-school-principal-katie-oconnell-suspended-over-fetty-wap-lyric-in-k-8-yearbook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/294068\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida school principal Katie O\u2019Connell suspended over Fetty Wap lyric in K-8 yearbook"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Florida<\/a> principal was suspended after a Fetty Wap lyric appeared under her name in the school\u2019s yearbook \u2014 despite her insistence that she never wrote it.<\/p>\n

Katie O\u2019Connell, principal of Trout Creek Academy in St. Johns County, was placed on paid administrative leave May 20 while the district investigates allegations of \u201cinappropriate conduct\u201d tied to a quote printed on the first page of the school\u2019s 2025-26 yearbook.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody hatin\u2019, we just call them fans though! \u2014 Mrs. O\u2019Connell,\u201d the quote read.<\/p>\n

Florida principal Katie O\u2019Connell was suspended after a Fetty Wap lyric appeared under her name in a yearbook. WAFB 9<\/p>\n

The line comes from rapper Fetty Wap\u2019s 2015 hit \u201cTrap Queen,\u201d a song that includes references to drug dealing<\/a> and strip clubs.<\/p>\n

The investigation began when a parent complained to Superintendent Dr. Brennan Asplen and called the quote \u201cinappropriate and unprofessional\u201d for a K-8 school leader, Jacksonville outlet News4JAX reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cA principal represents leadership, maturity, and professionalism,\u201d the parent wrote. \u201cReferring to criticism or concerned parents as \u2018haters\u2019 in a school publication sends the wrong message to children and families.\u201d<\/p>\n

But emails and interviews included in the district\u2019s investigation suggest O\u2019Connell may not have known the quote was included.<\/p>\n

The school\u2019s yearbook teacher said O\u2019Connell reviewed the yearbook before publication and that the quote was not present in the final proof she saw.<\/p>\n

The quote, \u201cEverybody hatin\u2019, we just call them fans though,\u201d appeared on the first page of the 2025-26 yearbook. WAFB 9<\/p>\n

\u201cKatherine O\u2019Connell was not aware that quote was going to be used in the 2025-2026 school yearbook,\u201d the teacher wrote. \u201cMs. O\u2019Connell wasn\u2019t aware that quote was used until the yearbooks arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n

When questioned by investigators, the teacher said, \u201cThe quote may not have been there. When Ms. O\u2019Connell reviewed it with me, she mentioned her quote was not there. I mentioned it to the students who must have then put it in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assistant Principal Samantha Sawruk also defended O\u2019Connell, writing that administrators helped proofread the yearbook before submission and that the quote did not appear on the page at that time.<\/p>\n

The lyric comes from rapper Fetty Wap\u2019s 2015 hit \u201cTrap Queen,\u201d which sparked complaints from some parents. R Umar Abbasi<\/p>\n

\u201cThe quote on the first page \u2026 was not there during the proofreading done on April 9,\u201d Sawruk wrote.<\/p>\n

She also noted that the quote was attributed to \u201cMrs. O\u2019Connell,\u201d while the principal typically signs communications as \u201cMs. O.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connell has denied selecting or approving the lyric.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connell denied writing or approving the quote, saying it was not included in the version of the yearbook she reviewed. WAFB 9<\/p>\n

\u201cI approved the yearbook twice on April 9, and so did my assistant principal, and that quote in that area was not even in the book,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said parents never contacted her directly before taking complaints to district officials, social media and local news outlets.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I needed was the time or the opportunity to have fixed an error that was made, and it wasn\u2019t made by me,\u201d O\u2019Connell said.<\/p>\n

Trout Creek Academy, a K-8 school in St. Johns County, is at the center of the yearbook controversy. WAFB 9<\/p>\n

According to district documents, O\u2019Connell was informed she would be placed on paid administrative leave and barred from school district property, Action News Jax repoted<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A separate letter stated the district was moving toward not reappointing her for the 2026-27 school year.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Trout Creek Academy\u2019s PTO announced retired educator Dr. Patrick Carmichael as interim principal while the investigation continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Florida principal was suspended after a Fetty Wap lyric appeared under her name in the school\u2019s yearbook…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294069,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[15714,122980,22922,28,30,29,15715,124026,4030,4278],"class_list":["post-294068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-elementary-schools","tag-fetty-wap","tag-firing","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-middle-schools","tag-principals","tag-teachers","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}