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. Board member Natalie Vowell abstained.
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.
This story has been updated to include a statement from Keisha Scarlett’s attorney.
