Charges on 21 SLPS-issued credit card accounts totaled about $1.6 million from July 2023 to July 2024, according to records released Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, to the Post-Dispatch.
ST. LOUIS — Leaders at St. Louis Public Schools have suspended all district-issued credit cards after staffers spent $1.6 million during the one-year tenure of ex-superintendent Keisha Scarlett.
The bulk of the charges on 21 cards went to travel, food and entertainment expenses and were not related to academics or operations, according to U.S. Bank statements from July 2023 to July 2024 obtained Thursday by the Post-Dispatch through a records request.
The statements reveal spending on airline upgrades, luxury hotels and restaurants from Hawaii to Georgia. There are indications of multiple violations of the district’s travel policy, including airline tickets for family members of staff. The spending includes charges at adult establishments including Hooters in Columbia, Missouri, for $700, UpBar in St. Louis for $700 and Dick’s Last Resort in Dallas for $540.
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An investigative report on the spending practices under Scarlett released Tuesday covered $260,500 in charges on just four of the credit cards issued by the district to the former superintendent and three other staffers who reported to her. The additional cards were assigned to seven SLPS departments plus staff members Stephanie Terry, interim deputy chief of finance; Victoria Glaspy, former finance director; Cheryl VanNoy, former chief information and accountability officer; Nichelle Hunter, financial management director; and Shameika Henry, secretary to the school board.
The headquarters of St. Louis Public Schools, at 801 N. 11th Street.
Five of the cards are designated as “travel.”
Matt Davis, vice president of the school board, said the district had three credit cards prior to Scarlett’s arrival in July 2023, and he was not aware that additional cards had been issued. All 21 credit cards are suspended until new oversight protections can be put in place following the recommendations of the report from the Armanino accounting firm, Davis said.
The only clear-cut spending on students shown in the statements is about $23,000 for 17 Vashon High School basketball players, coaches and chaperones to travel to Hawaii in December 2023 for a tournament. The school paid SLPS back out of the activities fund, according to an SLPS administrator.
Other expenditures in the statements include:
- Three visits to TopGolf in St. Louis for $6,740.
- Hotel rooms costing $12,000 over two weeks in March and April at the Stoney Creek Inn in Columbia, Margaritaville in Osage Beach, and a Holiday Inn in South Carolina.
- Thousands of dollars on plane tickets for family members of current and former staff including Henry, Nikka Lemons and Zithri Saleem, along with the wife of board member Tracy Hykes who made trips to Oakland, San Diego and Dallas. The Rev. Charles Norris, pastor of St. James AME church in St. Louis, received a $700 plane ticket to attend the Kingmakers of Oakland’s “Black Love is Liberation” conference with several SLPS representatives. Scarlett is quoted on the organization’s website saying, “It’s not a radical idea for us to focus on African-American males and center them; it’s not an intent to alienate anyone or not acknowledge their needs.”
- A charge of $16,532 to Marcus Theatres.
- Charges of $5,000 at restaurants in Houston over five days in April.
- Three visits in July to Bubba Gump and other restaurants in Las Vegas for $700.
- Glaspy and Terry each charged more than $1,000 to the Pointe Hilton in Phoenix and $5,000 for separate stays at the Gaylord National Resort in Maryland.
- One of the cards labeled “travel” included $3,272 in charges in one month to the Richmond Heights Schnucks, www.walmart.com and a Dollar Tree in Collinsville.
After arriving at SLPS in July 2023, Scarlett racked up more than $88,500 in questionable charges on food, gifts, personal care and travel on her designated credit card, according to the report from Armanino. Scarlett was placed on leave one year after starting the job and fired in September.
A comprehensive audit of SLPS initiated by Missouri Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick in August is expected to take another year to complete.
St. Louis public schools board president Antionette “Toni” Cousins reads a statement on the decision to fire superintendent Keisha Scarlett on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. Video provided by the district; edited by Beth O’Malley
Source: St. Louis Public Schools suspends credit cards after spending more than $1.6 million
