St. Louis Public Schools has fired former Superintendent Keisha Scarlett. In a 6-0 vote, the city’s Board of Education voted Monday to end her employment with the district.
Antionette Cousins, board chair, and members Matt Davis, Donna Jones, Tracy Hykes, Emily Hubbard and Sadie Weiss voted to terminate Scarlett “for cause.”
Board member Natalie Vowell abstained.
“The Board of Education of the City of St. Louis held an evidentiary hearing on matters related to the employment of Dr. Keisha Scarlett. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Board of Education voted to terminate the employment of Dr. Scarlett for cause, effective immediately,” said a statement released by Carl B. Mitchell, SLPS brand strategy manager.
In a statement released by her lawyer, Scarlett said she plans to pursue legal action against the school board.
The board had terminated Scarlett’s three-year contract in September. That decision came after the board hired an unnamed third-party investigator to look into her hiring practices and personnel decisions in response to public complaints that Scarlett hired friends from Seattle Public Schools, where she previously worked.
The board placed Scarlett on leave over the summer, in the weeks leading up to the start of the school year. School board members named Millicent Borshade the acting superintendent.
After the board’s September vote, Scarlett said she planned to fight for her job — claiming she “did nothing wrong.”
“My leadership decisions were always made to benefit our students and community,” Scarlett said in a statement then.
“When I arrived, the administration was in crisis with significant operational problems, student service deficiencies, and staff compensation disparities.
“After several external studies and audits, I focused on redistributing resources to support our mission more equitably. I communicated regularly with the Board about these needed changes.”
Scarlett appealed the decision to terminate her contract, but the board on Monday moved forward with its decision to end her employment with the district.
Sherry Culves, Scarlett’s lawyer, said in a statement that Scarlett refused to attend the hearing because the board “actively hindered Dr. Scarlett’s ability to prepare for and participate in the termination hearing, denying her the due process that was contractually promised.”
In the statement, Culves said the board barred her from accessing databases and prohibited her from using district devices to contact SLPS personnel, which would have helped Scarlett make her case to the board.
District officials said in a statement the investigation into Scarlett’s tenure is ongoing and includes her entire time as superintendent.
SLPS transportation changes
Leviticus “Levi” McNeal joined the school district as it navigates an ongoing school bus driver shortage.
His appointment comes after Toyin Akinola, the previous transportation director, announced her plans to retire on Oct. 31.
The district is working with over 19 vendors of school bus and van operators to get students to and from school on time. However, the district announced Monday that it has suspended some bus routes after one of its vendors was not complying with safety standards.
“As we identify any further concerns, vendors will be notified, and appropriate actions will be taken to ensure student safety,” a district administrator said.
All 5000 series bus routes will not operate for the foreseeable future. The district notified families of children on these routes over the weekend and has placed a notification on its website, which is updated daily.
District officials said some students will be taken to school by other vendors and offered gas cards to other families who choose to drive their kids to school.
During a school board meeting last week, Chief Operations Officer Square Watson said that over 9,000 students are using traditional yellow buses and roughly 2,500 students are using alternative vendors.
Watson also said that about 85% of students were getting to and from school on time in both the morning and afternoons.
SLPS is searching for vendors for the 2025-26 school year, but meeting the district’s transportation needs for the rest of the school year will likely be a challenge as public complaints about the vendors continue to circulate online.
The district is in the process of evaluating all of its transportation vendors and plans to release a report on Nov. 1.
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