School board VP speaks out on Saint Louis Public School’s hiring controversy

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 trus...