A Catholic high school in Orcutt is at the center of a controversy after its principal was placed on administrative leave, leaving students and parents awaiting answers from the archdiocese.
Michael Ronan, superintendent for the Santa Barbara region, sent a letter to parents on Friday, May 15, informing them that St. Joseph High School Principal Erinn Dougherty was placed on administrative leave pending a review of "verbal comments made in a meeting of students."
The letter, shared with KSBY by parent Monte Nash, also states the Archdiocese of Los Angeles does not tolerate any behavior that compromises the respect, trust or dignity of its students.
A recording circulating online appears to capture Dougherty reprimanding students for not de-escalating an altercation between two students and instead choosing to record it. KSBY News has not independently verified the authenticity of the recording.
In the recording, the voice students identify as Dougherty refers to some behavior as "some of the most white trash public school behavior I have ever seen" and says "people do not pay $15,000 a year for that."
In another portion of the recording, the voice says, "That is for the people who are not going to own businesses. That's for the little workers. That's for the people who are never going to own a home, they're going to rent a home."
A number of parents have spoken out in support of Dougherty.
Jose Corona, a parent of a student at St. Joseph High School, believes Dougherty was only disciplining the students.
"There was a confrontation of two students in a class and after that, you know, the next day she came up and pretty much told everybody we don't do that in the class and we need to do better, but just unfortunately, the way that they got recorded and what they said and the way they threw it out of context, you know, I kind of think it was a little bit off," Corona said.
Nash, who has two daughters attending the school, believes more attention should be focused on what happened before Dougherty addressed the students.
"There was a teacher that was right there that was in the middle of the conflict that was escalating and declined to intervene before it got to a point this was an issue," Nash said.
But others say there is no excuse for how Dougherty reprimanded the teenagers.
Nash acknowledged the nature of Dougherty's remarks while stopping short of calling them a direct personal label.
"I don't think that she personally called and labeled the people that were participants a certain way but she did address that the way they were acting reflected a certain demographic of people who, that's what they do," Nash said.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles shared the following statement with KSBY News:
We cannot comment on the details of a personnel matter.
That said, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Department of Catholic Schools is working closely with the school to address this matter upholding the core Christian principles of our Catholic schools. St. Joseph High School remains committed to providing an environment grounded in faith, compassion, respect, and accountability for every student and for all in the school community. The school has taken steps to ensure that all end-of-year processes, graduation requirements and festivities will remain on schedule, and that every student successfully meets their final milestones.
We are grateful for the efforts of the school community and offer our prayers for a good rest of the school year.
Both Corona and Nash believe Dougherty should still participate in upcoming graduation events. Nash called placing her on leave one week before graduation excessive, while Corona called it absolutely wrong.
KSBY News reached out to Dougherty for comment. She referred us to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
