Katie O’Connell’s lawyer says they will seek a court order forcing the local school board to hold a hearing after O’Connell was placed on administrative leave this spring over a yearbook quotation attributed to her.
The move to pursue judicial relief comes as a new gesture — representatives for Fetty Wap sent flowers to Trout Creek Academy’s principal after the yearbook was distributed with the line “Everybody hatin’, we just call them fans though” attributed to O’Connell.
The lyric’s appearance in the yearbook has prompted the district to open an investigation into allegations of inappropriate conduct and led school officials to tell O’Connell her contract would not be renewed for next year. Supporters have since raised more than $3,000 on a GoFundMe to help cover her legal expenses.
O’Connell, who said she has worked in the St. Johns County School District for more than 20 years, disputed the attribution. "That quote was not in there," she said, adding that the yearbook had already been approved. "And when we were done proofreading it, we said, ‘go ahead and send it. It’s good. Like, we’re done. Like sign, seal, deliver that yearbook.’ So the fact that when they arrived at the school, that quote was in there and on the front page and attributed to Mrs. O’Connell, which would never be me."
District officials have treated the attribution as inappropriate conduct and opened an investigation after the yearbook was distributed this spring. The school board declined to comment because litigation is pending.
O’Connell described how events unfolded after publication: "I was just sent home and to say that it’s inappropriate conduct and then they released documents to the news and giving me no control over my own process, I couldn’t even speak for myself, I’ve had no hearing. It’s just been really disappointing," she said.
Jack Webb, who has represented O’Connell in public comments, said a student made additional edits after her final approval and that a page containing the lyric was added without her knowledge. Webb also criticized the timing of the yearbook’s distribution, saying, "It was distributed in an inappropriate manner prematurely." He said the legal team plans to seek a court order requiring the school board to hold a hearing.
The facts at the center of the dispute are narrow: the yearbook, distributed this spring, carried the Fetty Wap lyric on a page attributing the line to O’Connell; she maintains the line was not in the final proof she signed off on and that the extra page was inserted later without her consent.
Fetty Wap’s team has not been accused of wrongdoing in the district’s investigation; their involvement so far is limited to the symbolic act of sending flowers to the principal after she was suspended. The school board’s refusal to comment, citing pending litigation, leaves unanswered the internal questions school officials must address: who added the lyric page, why it was attributed to O’Connell, and how the yearbook passed final checks.
The next step is legal: O’Connell’s attorneys intend to press the local court to compel the board to hold the hearing she has not yet received. That filing will sharpen the dispute from personnel action to a judicial determination over process and whether the district followed its own rules when it disciplined a long-serving principal.
Until a court orders a hearing or the board chooses to act, the immediate consequences remain: O’Connell remains on administrative leave, her contract reportedly will not be renewed for the coming year, and the district’s investigation continues with the provenance of a single lyric — and its attribution — still unresolved.
