Florida headteacher unfairly suspended after ‘inappropriate’ rap lyric appears in yearbook

A headteacher in Florida has been suspended after a lyric from a Fetty Wap song appeared under her name on the first page of the school’s yearbook, and everyone’s saying it’s so unfair.

Katie O’Connell is the principal at Trout Creek Academy in St. Johns County, Florida, and was placed on leave on 20th May over the line, which said: “Everybody hatin’, we just call them fans though! — Mrs. O’Connell.” The lyric is from Fetty Wap’s 2015 track Trap Queen, and she has been suspended while the school district investigates allegations of “inappropriate conduct”.

They launched the investigation after a parent complained to the superintendent and called the quote “inappropriate and unprofessional,” Action News Jax reports. The parent wrote: “A principal represents leadership, maturity, and professionalism. Referring to criticism or concerned parents as ‘haters’ in a school publication sends the wrong message to children and families.”

Credit: Trout Creek Academy PTO/Facebook

O’Connell insists that she didn’t write the line and claims she looked at the yearbook in detail before it was published and that the quote was not there in the final version. The quote was also attributed to “Mrs. O’Connell,” but she said she usually signs her name as “Ms. O”.

“I 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,” she said. “All I needed was the time or the opportunity to have fixed an error that was made, and it wasn’t made by me.”

A number of teachers have defended the principal following her suspension. One told the investigation Katherine O’Connell “was not aware that quote was going to be used in the 2025-2026 school yearbook” and “wasn’t aware that quote was used until the yearbooks arrived”.

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Credit: Action News Jax

“The quote may not have been there. When Ms. O’Connell reviewed it with me, she mentioned her quote was not there. I mentioned it to the students who must have then put it in,” the same teacher added.

Assistant Principal Samantha Sawruk also revealed she helped to proofread the yearbook before it was published, and the Fetty War lyric wasn’t there.  “The quote on the first page was not there during the proofreading done on 9th April,” she said.

People online are absolutely outraged that she was suspended, claiming the line isn’t even bad. “But I still don’t see what she did wrong,” one person said. Another agreed: “Is this a joke?” Someone else added: “This is wild. A harmless lyric mix-up and the principal gets suspended? Schools overreacting again. Hope Katie gets cleared, focus on real issues.”

The investigation is still ongoing right now, but a letter states that the district is considering not reappointing O’Connell as headteacher for the 2026-27 school year.

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Featured image credit: Trout Creek Academy PTO/Facebook