ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones is asking for a state audit of Saint Louis Public Schools, as the district is embroiled in a staffing dustup, transportation problems and a large budget deficit weeks before the start of the school year.
In a letter to Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick, Jones cited that she had "extremely limited authority over SLPS or the SLPS Board."
While she said the city would soon seek proposals for auditing services for the school board regarding the past three fiscal years, "I believe that, under the current circumstances, having a companion audit performed by your office that fully assesses recent SLPS administrative and Board practices is also necessary," Jones said.
"This is exactly the type of momentum that we've been pushing for," said Chester Asher with Coalition with STL Kids.
The group is now circulating an online petition also calling on the state auditor to look into the district's finances.
The district started the year with a surplus of $17 million in its general operations budget, but now is in a projected $35 million deficit. Jones called into question the contracts issued in the past year overseen by former Superintendent Keisha Scarlett, who was recently placed on a temporary leave of absence.
The board selected Deputy Superintendent Millicent Borishade to act as superintendent in the interim. Borishade served in the Tukwila School District in Washington as chief academic officer. She resigned after one year when Scarlett hired her at Saint Louis Public Schools.
Documents obtained Friday showed the Tukwila Education Association signed "no confidence" letters last year against Borishade and Dr. Allison Deno, who was also hired by Scarlett as SLPS' chief of schools.
"(Borishade) quickly rose into this position and then as she does so, the school faculty and staff find out and the board finds out that there was a vote of no confidence from the previous (teacher's union)...and so that then is going to provide a challenge for her," said education consultant Dr. Gerry Kettenbach.
Borishade does not have superintendent certification in Missouri, which is required for a district to have full accreditation.
"As we all know, the district was controlled by Department of Elementary and Secondary for several years with a state-appointed board of directors and it got out from under that. Dr. (Kelvin) Adams was there for 14 years. He provided a stability point that hadn't been present in quite a while and we improved under him, the finances improved under him, the academics improved, the district came back to fully accredited status. So I suppose that the state could determine that the district is financially stressed, determine that it's out of compliance for accreditation purposes and put it back under state monitoring and governance," Kettenbach suggested.
That hasn't happened at this time and there's no indication if it will, but it could.
"At least 12 administrators and employees from the superintendent’s former employer, and some of their spouses, appear to have received SLPS employment contracts as top staff," Jones said in her letter. "At the same time, existing SLPS teachers and staff were told that raises approved by the SLPS Board to begin in the 2024-25 school year would be delayed due to 'logistical issues.' This raises questions about whether and what kind of vetting was performed on these contracts, and how decisions to approve them were reached.
The district also had to put an emergency transportation plan in place after the previous transportation company ended its contract early.
In a teacher's union press conference held Tuesday to discuss issues in the district, American Federation of Teachers Local 420 spokesperson Byron Clemens said, “I have to be clear that education, the safety of St. Louis school children are our number one priority, that comes first for us. We are professionals who will keep our focus on our mission.”
The union said it supported the investigation into hires and contracts overseen by Scarlett.
“We have some concerns about what may or may not have happened with spending on the 10 to 20 people that Dr. Scarlett brought in, but that's not in our purview right now. It's only 20 days to the opening of school. And we have to prepare for that,” Clemens said.
The Board of Education's next meeting will be held Tuesday at district headquarters.