State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick says his office will only investigate Missouri charter schools if formal complaints show “specific problems,” after the American Federation of Teachers and several state lawmakers requested a probe last month.
Fitzpatrick said his office has only received one complaint about a charter school in the region through its whistleblower hotline since he became auditor in 2023, and that was about Kairos Academy last summer. Sen. Doug Beck, D-south St. Louis County, last year requested the state office investigate back pay totaling thousands of dollars provided to three of Kairos’ executives.
In a letter dated Aug. 21, 2024, the AFT and Local 420 President Ray Cummings, as well as several state lawmakers, petitioned the auditor’s office for a probe of all charter schools in Missouri, which are located in St. Louis and Kansas City.
Mallory McGowin, a spokesperson for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said that there are currently 18 charter schools located in 37 buildings in St. Louis, and there are 20 charter schools across 44 buildings in Kansas City. Since 2022, three schools have closed in St. Louis, but none has closed in Kansas City during that period.
Charter schools are governed by independent boards called Local Education Agencies. The schools can be part of a traditional agency, or they can be classified as their own agency.
Auditor's office spokesperson Trevor Fox said it received the union’s letter, but since it didn’t come through the whistleblower hotline, it’s not considered a formal complaint.
“We didn’t receive that in the form of a complaint detailing specific problems with a particular school we need to investigate or audit,” Fox said.
Cummings said they’re now working to submit their complaint through the hotline.
Cummings said there are concerns that the state’s audit of St. Louis Public Schools, which began on Aug. 13, is too narrow in scope. The state office began its investigation of the district after receiving complaints about a projected $35 million deficit in the district and the hiring practices of Superintendent Keisha Scarlett, who was placed on a temporary leave of absence in late July.
Millicent Borishade is currently serving as acting superintendent.
State Rep. Donna Baringer, D-St. Louis, had requested a state audit of the school district over the summer, followed by St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, citing concerns about the district’s finances and hiring practices. The district has been under fire in recent months as student transportation issues escalated after the Missouri School Bus Co. ended its contract with the district early.
Cummings said charter schools should be held to the same standard as public schools. In the August letter, Cummings and others said auditing charter schools is necessary due to lingering questions about what happens to the millions of dollars provided to charter schools and other items purchased after charter schools close.
“Unlike public schools, charter schools are privately managed and often controlled by profit-seeking entities,” the joint statement reads. “Of the growing number of charter schools in St. Louis almost half have closed due to a multitude of reasons such as student grades, attendance, administrative malfeasance and the failure to secure an academic sponsor. In 2023, Hawthorn School for Girls and La Salle Middle School in St. Louis were both forced to close.”
Charter schools are receiving more than $355 million from the state this year, and traditional public schools are getting $3.9 billion.
“Auditing the public schools without an equal audit of charter schools is not only unfair, but also an inefficient and incomplete accounting of public funds,” the joint statement reads.
According to state law, charter schools are required to operate as nonprofits and use financing practices consistent with the Missouri Financial Accounting Manual. They’re also required to obtain an annual audit by a certified public accountant and publish annual public audit and financial reports.
Fitzpatrick said that after thoroughly investigating the Kairos Academy complaint last year, his office found that the financial concerns had already been addressed and that expending limited resources auditing Kairos would not be the most beneficial use of time for taxpayers.
“While I would love to thoroughly review the performance of every school in the state, we prioritize audits where concerns have been identified and brought to our attention, or there is another compelling audit interest,” Fitzpatrick said in an emailed statement.
“I encourage anyone with specific concerns of improper activity in any charter school to contact our Whistleblower Hotline,” Fitzpatrick added. “We will investigate any submissions we receive and, if the claims are found to be credible and an audit would be beneficial to taxpayers, we will move as quickly as we can to begin that work.”
Fitzpatrick said previously his office’s audit of SLPS is part of a larger effort to inspect more schools in the state. The state auditor’s office is also investigating the Independence School District in Jackson County, the Kingston K-14 School District in Washington County and the Francis Howell R-III School District in St. Charles County.
The auditor’s office said it is reviewing SLPS’ 2023-24 school year through July 31. Officials said that staff members are not limited to that time frame, but that they will work closely with the Board of Education throughout the process and will try not to overlap a separate third-party investigation into Scarlett’s hiring practices and other personnel matters that are currently in process.
Board of Education Vice President Matt Davis said he expects that investigation, which is being conducted by an undisclosed accounting firm, will be wrapped up within two weeks.
Staff members in the auditor’s office said Wednesday they didn’t have any updates on their SLPS audit as it is still in the early stages.
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