ST. LOUIS – Classes in the Saint Louis Public School District begin on August 19. The district is in turmoil, with a superintendent on leave after only a year on the job and an internal investigation into her alleged questionable hires and high salaries.
“We took very quick action in terms of having this independent audit to begin looking into these transactions and also took personnel actions against people in the administration,” SLPS School Board Vice President Matt Davis said.
One of the hires under scrutiny is Phoenix Jackson. She started with the district on July 1 as its chief communications officer, slated to make $200,000 a year. She’s already reportedly left the district.
“One of the things that the audit will be looking into is in terms of salary ranges that may have been set without the knowledge of the (SLPS) Board of Education,” Davis said.
Davis said the audit should produce preliminary results in a few weeks and that it will also look at what the board could do better.
“You do have to put some trust in the administrators that you hire and so, if we are guilty of anything, we’ve put trust in administrators because you don’t want to micromanage a superintendent,” he said. “We’re not educators.”
Meanwhile, parents like Jaivaih Pruitt are worried. Her child starts school for the first time later this month.
“It really shows there’s not much care in the system right now if it’s just about the money and they’re on paid leave and things like that; it kind of concerns me,” she said. “I’m putting my baby in school, you know.”
Davis hopes audit findings will answer how to get back on track but adds that taxpayers should know that reports about the districts spending is not all bad news.
“A lot of the headlines have really been disturbing. They’ve also kinda been inaccurate,” he said. “What’s important to know is that the district is not in a dire financial situation. What’s been left out of a lot of the stories is that we started the year with a very large fund balance—almost $200 million—which is the result of a lot of federal pandemic funds and we’re trying to spend that down.”
That money will be used for things like classroom materials, iPads, and laptops for every student, which is new for the district, Davis said.
Pending audits, including the one to be conducted by the Missouri State Auditor, will follow that money trail.
