ST. LOUIS — There are new questions about spending in Saint Louis Public Schools, as the school board is considering yet another hire.
On Tuesday evening, the school board met for a work session to consider hiring a part-time consultant at $185 an hour to help the acting superintendent.
Dr. Joylynn Pruitt-Adams is a retired superintendent from the Riverview Gardens School District.
"These mentorships are really helpful for new superintendents, for experienced superintendents who have been through those experiences to lend their guidance because it is a huge job," said SLPS School Board Vice President Matt Davis.
Under the proposal, Pruitt-Adams would be paid $185 an hour as a part-time consultant, with a cap of $40,000 in pay overall.
SLPS Board President Toni Cousins said Pruitt-Adams would serve as a mentor to Dr. Millicent Borishade this school year, working five to six hours a week, and the contract would be from September to June 2025.
Borishade was named acting superintendent after superintendent Keisha Scarlett was put on temporary leave.
"We're talking about someone coming on an interim basis right before school starts," Davis said. "There are many complicating factors, so we want to make sure that we can get the administration the help they need. There are a lot of mentorship programs for new Superintendents because while you may have experience in administration at a certain level in a school, such as academics or operations, the Superintendent oversees everything. So having a mentor has become commonplace now."
City and state leaders are currently auditing the district's spending.
5 On Your Side asked Davis how the board can justify to taxpayers that this additional salary is necessary.
Davis said, "Administrator salaries in every school district have been on the rise, particularly Superintendents. And part of that is just supply and demand. You know, Superintendents are not lasting in their job. There is an unprecedented amount of turnover in these administrative jobs. Unfortunately, that means that in order to get people to fill these jobs, the compensation has been creeping up. Paying to support administrators so they can maintain their focus on what's happening in the classroom is always something we look for in the cost-benefit analysis. It's a good investment for taxpayers."
Davis feels the experience Pruitt-Adams brings would benefit the school district and Borishade.
"Dr. Pruitt-Adams has been there, done that several times, both through transitioning in university city, to raising the bar in that school district, which was suffering when she started, as well as the Riverview Garden School District, which went through that transition from a state board to an elected board. So that experience that is incredibly invaluable," Davis said.
Dr. Jon Turner, an educational leadership associate professor at Missouri State University, says that hiring an outside consultant for a new superintendent is standard with the size of Saint Louis Public Schools.
"It is not uncommon for there to be an onboarding process, especially with a retiring superintendent or a veteran superintendent coming in temporarily to provide some support to the new Superintendent," Turner said.
5 On Your Side contacted all the remaining six school board members, including the president, about their thoughts on this potential new hire. The ones who responded could not provide a statement as individual board members.
Meanwhile, Davis said his stance on the potential new hire is positive.
He said, "I think it's great. We are always looking for people to help out. We have been asking the community to help. We've been asking elected officials to help. This is really a community effort to support the students of St Louis public schools."
The proposal to hire Pruitt-Adams will be introduced at Tuesday night's meeting and voted on next month. The meeting was open to the public.
Sources with knowledge of district personnel decisions said George Sells, the district's former Director of Communications and Marketing, departed the district last week.
Davis said he wasn't sure if Sells had been let go, adding he has heard the frustrations of how difficult it has been to get answers from the district. Davis was hopeful that issue is brought up at Tuesday's meeting
As for the transportation issues, Davis said he has concerns but is hopeful it will improve as the weeks go on.