ST. LOUIS — 5 On Your Side is taking a closer look at the top dollar salaries offered to district level employees at St. Louis Public Schools.
Superintendent Keisha Scarlett, who is now on leave, brought in those staffers who she knew from her time in Washington State. Now, school leaders are preparing for a work session Tuesday to approve even more spending.
A retired superintendent from Riverview Gardens could be brought in to assist. Under the proposal going before the school board Tuesday, Dr. Joylynn Pruitt-Adams would be paid $185/hour to serve as a consultant, working up to 5 hours a week.
Superintendent Scarlett has been on leave for a month now, a year after beginning her new role with SLPS. Her salary is $ 268,000 a year.
She brought on top level staffers she knew from Washington State, like Deputy Superintendent Millicent Borishade who signed on with a salary of $230,000 and is now serving as the Interim Superintendent. Chief of Schools Allison Deno makes $200,000. Her husband Timothy Schultz is employed as a Contract Management Officer making $140,000.
“It's not uncommon when you hire a new superintendent for them to bring on leaders as part of a team that they've had a lot of experience within the past,” said Missouri State University Education Associate Professor Jon Scott Turner.
5 On Your Side kept digging into other new contracts. A Temporary Chief Financial Officer offered a rate of pay of $93 an hour. A Senior Project Manager offered a $120,000 salary. A Chief of Staff of Operational Excellence was offered close to $186,000.
"It is unusual, some of these job titles and positions. They're not ones that I've ever seen before that would be brought along with a Superintendent,” Turner said after reviewing some of offers.
Other recent job offers included the following:
- Chief Financial Officer - $200,000
- Chief Information Officer - $200,000
- Interim Deputy Chief of Operations - $175,000
- Interim Chief Information Officer - $168,269
As a state audit is underway into the district's spending, Turner pointed out the power of decision making does not lie with just one person.
"The elected school board, it puts a lot of pressure on them to keep a tight tab on how money is being spent and what positions are being added," he said. "That gives those locally elected school boards a lot of power and because of that, when challenges come up, it also means that those local school boards have to be held accountable for decisions that they've made during those times."
The focus on finances comes as the district's budget went from a $17 million surplus to a projected deficit of $35 million, and the district continues to battle with how to get students to class two weeks into the start of the school year.