Central Coast principal on leave after blasting students’ ‘white trash’ behavior

The principal at St. Joseph High School in Orcutt has been placed on administrative leave after a recording circulated of her berating students, referring to “white trash public school behavior” and other comments denigrating “renters” and “little workers.”

The recording captures roughly six minutes of Head of School and Principal Erinn Dougherty’s rant apparently spurred by students egging on an altercation by yelling “fight, fight” and “haha.”

St. Joseph is a Catholic high school for ninth- through 12th-graders.

“What I saw in that video is some of the most white trash public school behavior I have ever seen,” Dougherty is heard saying in the video.

Later she said, “It was public school behavior. People did not pay $15,000 a year for that.”

The diatribe included shouting “shut up” at a student before she continued, criticizing the group’s behavior as “not becoming of a St. Joseph Knight.”

“It is not becoming of a person at a Catholic school. That is for the people who are not going to own the businesses. That’s for little workers,” she said. “That’s for the people who are never gonna own a home. They’re gonna rent a home. Behavior like that, that’s not for leaders, that’s not for successful people and it’s not the way we’re gonna act here.”

According to a letter provided to parents and posted on social media, Dougherty, who has led the school since 2018, was recently placed on administrative leave “pending a review of reported verbal comments made in a meeting of students.”

Officials with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said they could not comment on personnel matters.

“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,” Archdiocese officials said in a written statement.

“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.”

In a letter to parents, Michael Ronan, regional superintendent of the Santa Barbara Pastoral Region, said Assistant Principal of Athletics Tom Mott would serve as lead administrator.

Dougherty, along with Mott, the archdiocese and the school, were named in a civil lawsuit filed in 2024 that is still inching its way through the Santa Barbara County Superior Court system.

Filed by Connie Plata, the lawsuit accused Dougherty of violating labor laws, wrongful termination and more.

The lawsuit’s fifth amended complaint filed last summer accused Dougherty of asking the then-registrar “to falsely inflate multiple students’ grades, falsely overlook and/or limit student-athlete absences and falsify official high school records, specifically including but not limited to official transcripts that are reported to the California Interscholastic Federation, as well as colleges and the National Collegiate Athletic Association.”

Along with accusations of grade tampering for student-athletes, the lawsuit claimed Dougherty yelled at a teacher for giving the principal’s daughter a B, demanding it be revised to an A.

Attorneys for the defendants have denied the allegations.

It isn’t the first time St. Joseph has dealt with accusations involving leaders.

A prior principal and a former dean of students each faced misdemeanor criminal charges after failing to report an off-campus sexual assault involving a student to authorities.

This story was originally published May 23, 2026 at 10:49 AM with the headline "Central Coast principal on leave after blasting students’ ‘white trash’ behavior."