Now might be the time for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to take a long hard look at the way St. Joseph High School Principal Erinn Dougherty has managed the Orcutt Catholic school over the past eight years.
Dougherty’s on administrative leave pending a decision the archdiocese will make after reviewing what she told students—allegedly—while reprimanding them for some social media video circulating of a fight between students.
Here’s what she supposedly said, according to a “concerned parent” who sent the Sun a hot tip and the alleged recording: “What I saw in that video was some of the most white trash public school behavior I have ever seen,” the speaker—allegedly Dougherty—said in the recording.
“That behavior is not becoming of a St. Joseph Knight,” the speaker continued. “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 is for the little workers. That’s for the people who will never own a home. They’re going to rent a home. … It was public school behavior. People do not pay $15,000 a year for that. It was completely unacceptable. It was disgusting.”
Umm, wow. What did public school ever do to you? That’s some elitist reprimanding! High school kids are stupid. Yes, even private school students. Maybe especially entitled private school students, if we’re going to get into stereotypes here.
What is “white trash public school behavior” exactly, anyway? And “little workers”? Like, tiny people? Shouldn’t a Catholic school be talking about basking in the glory of God instead of bashing those who either can’t or won’t pay to go to a private school?
This comes after the whole beg-for-forgiveness-but-don’t-ask-for-permission construction of a softball field that’s dangerously close to some condos. And in the midst of a lawsuit filed against Dougherty and the archdiocese in 2024 over alleged pressure to falsify student athletes’ grades and whistleblower retaliation.
St. Joe’s and the archdiocese apparently felt that the school qualified for a religious exemption when it came to the lawsuit! But the judge wasn’t down with that.
I guess we’ll see if the archdiocese gets up to its old tricks, supporting its own no matter what they do. I’m not convinced that this purported recording of the principal spewing a bunch of nonsense at students is going to sway the powers above. The person who’s in charge while the school’s big bosses figure it all out is also named as a defendant in that lawsuit: Tom Mott. He’s the athletic director.
Looks like things are going to stay status quo!
The status quo is a no-go in Guadalupe, where the city is actually requiring a developer to put carports instead of garages on the 15 two-to-three-bedroom units he’s building. The concern? People will use the garages for whatever they want to use them for and not cars!
“Not everybody uses a garage to park a car,” Councilmember Amelia Villegas said. “So there’s the potential of having a lot of cars just parked in the general area.”
Hmm. So, even though the developer wants his apartments to look more “private school,” the city’s aiming for more of a “public school” vibe.
The Canary is just joking. Carports are very fancy. Send garage talk to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 21 – May 28, 2026.
