St. Louis Public Schools board failed to stop former superintendent’s flagrant misuse of public funds, audit finds

St. Louis Public Schools is “on a path to bankruptcy” after multiple systemic abuses by former superintendent Keisha Scarlett while the school board failed to provide sufficient oversight, a recent audit concludes.

“Time and time again, you’ll see that the Board of Education can and must do a much better job of providing leadership and oversight for the district,” Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick told St. Louis Public Radio.

He also accused the board of being “asleep at the wheel and (allowing) Dr. Scarlett to abuse the system in the first place.”

As previously reported by The Lion, an internal audit uncovered excessive misuse of public funds by Scarlett’s administration after she was placed on leave in July 2024.

‘The only place we can go is up from here’ 

Examples of questionable expenses between July 2023 to July 2024 include a Top Golf venue rental, travel upgrades, an Airbnb rental and an “unexplained four-night stay at Caesar’s Palace” – more than $8,600 for just these four items, according to St. Louis Public Radio.

“The audit also states that district personnel failed to ensure credit card bills were paid in a timely manner, resulting in $1,106 in late fees.”

Such financial mismanagement could deplete the district of funding in the 2030-31 academic year, the report warned.

“The district did not competitively select some vendors as required by district policies and state law. In one instance, the district used a non-RFP vendor instead of a preferred vendor for $133,295 in T-shirt purchases without being able to provide an explanation.”

Additionally, the report highlighted approximately $3.5 million spent in employee attendance incentives “in violation of the Missouri Constitution.”

“The report also notes the former superintendent approved cabinet member salaries in excess of the district salary schedule without Board approval, and gave pay raises to cabinet members with no support to justify the increase, some of which were retroactive.”

Superintendent Millicent Borishade expressed dismay over the findings at a press conference, adding she had been under the impression that Scarlett was acting with board approval. 

“The only place we can go is up from here,” she said. “We have already started new processes, and everybody is aware that we have to do better.” 

‘No real plan to move ahead’

However, community advocates shared concerns over how the board plans to address projected budget deficits.

“There seems to be no real plan to move ahead other than closing and consolidating schools in predominantly Black neighborhoods [which are] already devastated by tornado damage,” said Byron Clemens, spokesperson for the American Federation of Teachers Local 420.

“We believe that there is still a significant ‘rainy day’ fund and offer to sit down with the elected school board and other stakeholders and develop a comprehensive five-year plan. Closing and consolidating schools alone is not a viable plan.”

Dorothy Rohde-Collins, previous school board president and a district parent, criticized board members for their response to the audit.

“I wish the school board would apologize for the way that they handled this,” she said. “It doesn’t feel like they’ve taken ownership of this or even feel sorry, and I’m sure that may be true on an individual, personal level, but as a whole, it just doesn’t feel like they’re sorry.”