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St. Louis鈥檚 2024鈥�25 school year got off to a nightmare start last month.

Superintendent Keisha Scarlett 鈥� hired last year to great fanfare as the first Black woman to lead the district 鈥� has that most observers believe she will not return from. Her departure has only contributed to the organizational chaos surrounding the district, which also includes most of Scarlett鈥檚 senior staff similarly heading for the door. Worse still, an ongoing transportation meltdown continues to prevent many students from receiving bus services since classes began on August 19.

It has been another devastating setback to a district that was already grappling with huge academic and fiscal challenges. The city鈥檚 students, poor and non-white, have long posted standardized test scores near the bottom of Missouri鈥檚 state rankings. Over decades, chronic disappointment led parents to abandon local schools in droves, reducing total enrollment to less than one-sixth of its former size. And the pandemic exacted a significant toll on kids still in attendance, with estimating that math performance was set back by more than 1.5 years. 

The latest news is 鈥渢he last thing the district needed,鈥� sighed John Wright Sr., a veteran educator who once served as St. Louis鈥檚 interim school superintendent and more recently held a seat on its school board. 

The converging crises of leadership and capacity may soon trigger intervention from either voters or Missouri authorities. St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones has already called for an investigation into the district鈥檚 mismanagement from the state auditor鈥檚 office, which has obliged a previously planned audit. And next spring, the electorate will have the opportunity to vote out the school board鈥檚 president and vice president, who have each faced calls to resign. 

The situation came to a head in late July, that Scarlett would be placed on leave and replaced in the interim with deputy superintendent Millicent Borishade. The surprise development followed the district鈥檚 newly hired communications director intended to live, at least part-time, in Houston while serving in a position that would pay her up to $185,000 annually. 

In the weeks that followed, six senior staffers, including SLPS鈥檚 chief financial officer, chief of staff, and deputy chief of operations, . Most had worked with Scarlett at her previous district, Seattle Public Schools, and according to reporting from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, all were hired to six-figure salaries. 

Adolphus Pruitt, president of the St. Louis branch of the NAACP, called it 鈥渦nfortunate鈥� that the school system lost much of its top talent as the school year began, but added that the public perception of favoritism likely proved too damning for the school board not to act.

“I don’t have a problem with somebody coming in to manage operations saying, ‘I need to bring a new team around me,’ instead of relying on the team that’s already in place,鈥� said Pruitt. 鈥淏ut if they did that without going through the proper procedures, that’s a problem.”

鈥榃e were not consulted鈥�

Alongside state authorities, the St. Louis Board of Education has initiated their own audit of Scarlett鈥檚 spending and hiring practices. The outcome of that investigation, which will likely determine the superintendent鈥檚 fate, is expected to be released this month.

Matt Davis, the board鈥檚 vice president, told 蜜桃影视 that his concerns were first raised in June, when he reviewed a report from the district鈥檚 human resources department indicating that an outgoing staffer had earned compensation in excess of $185,000 鈥� an upper bound for senior employees that had been negotiated between the board and Scarlett. 

While the board voted to approve the hires, he said, it had largely left decisions on compensation to the district chief. That deference was viewed as necessary given a widely held perception that previous superintendents due to micromanagement.

“We were not consulted on the setting of their salaries, as far as I understand it,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淚 know that sounds ridiculous, but we were finding out stuff in the newspaper that we weren’t aware of.鈥�

Still, he conceded, he could not rule out the possibility that the board had authorized salaries in excess of its own informal maximum with Scarlett, possibly in the course of another vote. Davis had no recollection of having done so, he said, and the results of the internal audit would offer an answer.

鈥淚 don’t want to think that we voted on something 鈥� which is unfortunately possible 鈥� that was included in a packet of other stuff and I don’t know about it,鈥� he reflected. 鈥淚f that was the case, that was really dishonest because it was not our expectation of what should happen.”

鈥榃hat鈥檚 next?鈥�

The NAACP鈥檚 Pruitt has not hidden his displeasure with the performance of the school district recently. In mid-August, his organization filed a complaint against St. Louis Public Schools 鈥� alongside 33 other districts in the St. Louis area 鈥� with the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 Office of Civil Rights, pointing to markedly lower rates of reading proficiency for Black children relative to their white peers. 

Those dismal achievement levels, along with the sudden staffing purge, come in stark contrast to the high expectations Scarlett鈥檚 arrival last year. Brought aboard after the 14-year tenure of her predecessor in the role, she explained that she felt her hiring had been part of a 鈥渄ivine plan鈥� to turn the district around and among her top priorities. 

Instead, her leadership became entangled with logistical and budgetary challenges. In March, the district鈥檚 primary transportation contractor, the Missouri Central School Bus Co., said it of its contract with SLPS, arguing that inflation had increased its costs. A frenetic search for alternatives yielded to fill the void, but of the revised plan, leaving about 1,000 students without an easy way to get to school. 

Worse still, the district鈥檚 finances seemingly collapsed over the course of the last year. In , St. Louis Public Schools was projecting a $35 million deficit after beginning last year with a $17 million surplus. Other record-keeping concerns arose around the district鈥檚 latest internal audit, to Missouri authorities months late and only after the state began withholding millions of dollars in funding.

Wright chalked up the managerial missteps to 鈥渋ncompetence鈥� from district leaders, combined with a school board that didn鈥檛 offer necessary oversight.

That's how superintendents get in trouble: Their boards don't ask questions.

John Wright Sr., former St. Louis schools superintendent

鈥淭hat’s how superintendents get in trouble: Their boards don’t ask questions,鈥� Wright said. 鈥淓ventually, things fall apart because the board just trusted the superintendent.鈥� 

Davis countered that the deficit projected for the coming academic year is not set in stone, and that the district had deliberately set a course to spend down a large surplus swollen with federal COVID relief dollars. 

“This was a surprise to no one,鈥� he said, adding that cuts had been discussed in public meetings throughout the pandemic. 鈥淭his was all planned deficit spending. You can watch board meetings going back three years.鈥�

The rapidly growing list of controversies in the St. Louis Public Schools has led to public dissension 鈥� including from within the district itself. The personnel and financial decisions now being criticized were authorized by the school board, under the leadership of President Antionette Cousins and Vice President Matt Davis; in the wake of Scarlett鈥檚 downfall, a fellow board member demanded that the pair resign, that they had succeeded in quashing public scrutiny of Scarlett鈥檚 shortcomings. 

Cousins and Davis have both said they will not resign, but their seats will be contested in elections next April. 

Now that the state auditor is here, what's next? Set some new goals and metrics, and then what's next?

Krystal Barnett, Bridge 2 Hope

Krystal Barnett, a mother and the CEO of local parent advocacy group , said she believed the board鈥檚 leadership 鈥渉as to go,鈥� while adding that her own organization had no political function or power to endorse candidates. Going forward, she said she hoped Bridge 2 Hope could collaborate with the NAACP and other community forces to push for greater improvements on areas of critical need, especially early literacy.

鈥淣ow that the state auditor is here, what’s next? Set some new goals and metrics, and then what’s next? Get some new people on that board, and then what’s next? By next school year, we should be moving in the direction of creating a space where kids can actually grow each year.” 

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