New St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Keisha Scarlett embraces school board President Antionette “Toni” Cousins after Scarlett was introduced at a staff pep rally hosted by the district to kick off the 2023-24 school year at Enterprise Center on Aug. 4, 2023.
ST. LOUIS — A resident of St. Louis is suing the former superintendent and board president of St. Louis Public Schools to seek repayment to the district for unapproved travel and personal expenses.
Former sheriff’s Lt. Neil Hogan is “a taxpayer who cares where taxpayer dollars are going,” said his lawyer, Elkin Kistner of St. Louis firm Kistner, Hamilton, Elam and Martin.
Hogan’s lawsuit calls for former Superintendent Keisha Scarlett to pay back $56,700 to SLPS for personal and travel expenses, and former school board president Antionette “Toni” Cousins to refund $185 in airline upgrades and an unknown total for other violations of the SLPS travel policy from overspending on meals and hotel rooms.
Scarlett and Cousins did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
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The district’s questionable expenses linked to Scarlett included nearly $150,000 in credit card charges and $800,000 in unapproved contracts and salaries, as detailed in an audit by accounting firm Armanino late last year. The SLPS board fired Scarlett in September after she served one year as superintendent.
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The school district suspended its 21 credit cards in December after the Post-Dispatch reported on an additional $1.3 million in charges by staffers from July 2023 to July 2024 that indicated multiple violations of travel policies including airline upgrades, luxury hotels, entertainment and spending on family members and other non-staff.
Scarlett expensed at least 30 out-of-state trips between July 2023 and July 2024. Her credit card charges included thousands spent at Bath and Body Works, Edible Arrangements and dozens of meals through DoorDash.
Former SLPS board vice president Matt Davis last year said the district “went from Ebenezer Scrooge to Imelda Marcos” when they hired Scarlett to replace longtime superintendent Kelvin Adams, who was known for tight budgets.
Davis, whose term ended in April, previously said district leaders discussed clawing back some of the improper payments, particularly $94,801 in retroactive pay Scarlett awarded to her cabinet members, a violation of the Missouri Constitution.
“I think we’re going to pursue that. We’d probably have to hire different legal counsel,” Davis said in December. “You can’t retroactively pay public officials.”
A third defendant, SMJ Communications of North Carolina, should repay any money it received from SLPS for an $84,000 no-bid contract that was not approved by the school board, the lawsuit states. District financial records show the company was paid $75,000 last year.
The school district is also named in the suit “to ensure that SLPS does not in the future engage in such unlawful conduct with respect to public assets as to which its officials have fiduciary duties.”
The lawsuit is not related to the threat of litigation from a group of prominent local attorneys known as the Holy Joe Society. The group in February sent a letter to the SLPS board imploring them to recover any tax dollars that were improperly spent by leaders including Scarlett and Cousins.
“You wanna hit me for a $40 upcharge on Southwest Airlines? Come on, y’all,” St. Louis Board of Education President Antionette “Toni” Cousins said in a meeting on Jan. 15, 2025. Cousins responded to recent criticism SLPS has received, as well as accusations of unethical behavior from a fellow board remember who resigned the same night. Video courtesy of SLPS, edited by Jenna Jones.