(Spenser Heaps/Utah News Dispatch).
Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick’s demand that the president of the St. Louis Board of Education testify about the firing of former Superintendent Millicent Borishade raises a larger question: Is this really about accountability, or is accountability being selectively applied?
Dr. Borishade has filed an active whistleblower and wrongful-termination lawsuit against the district. Any competent attorney understands the danger of having a board president provide open-ended testimony concerning matters that could become evidence in pending litigation.
Protecting the district’s legal position is not hiding from accountability. It is protecting St. Louis taxpayers.
But if Auditor Fitzpatrick wants to make himself Missouri’s watchdog over public education, then he should explain why that watchdog seems to bark much louder at public schools than others.
Consider Kairos Academies, a St. Louis charter school. Its fiscal year 2024 independent audit identified material noncompliance, a material weakness in internal controls, and a significant deficiency in internal controls. Yet where was the high-profile intervention from the State Auditor? Where were the demands for public testimony and the accompanying political spectacle?
There have also been serious questions raised about Kairos’ finances, including concerns surrounding fund balances and retirement-system contributions. If a charter school failed to make required retirement contributions on time and corrected the problem only after it was discovered, that deserves every bit as much scrutiny as financial or management problems at a traditional public school district.
And the standard cannot change when we leave St. Louis. Missouri has more than 500 school districts, including small rural districts that have experienced serious financial problems. Yet the auditor’s own 2024 annual report says his office released performance audits of only two school districts that year and launched audits of two more.
That is precisely why selective enforcement matters.
The auditor has chosen to place extraordinary attention on St. Louis Public Schools. His office issued a “poor” rating and publicly emphasized the district’s deficit spending, even projecting when its fund balance could eventually fall to financially stressed levels if corrective action were not taken.
Fine. Hold SLPS accountable.
But hold everybody accountable.
Audit the charter schools with questionable financial practices. Investigate districts operating with dangerously low reserves. Examine failures to make required retirement contributions. Demand answers from rural, suburban, charter and traditional public schools with the same intensity being directed at St. Louis.
Accountability cannot depend upon where you live, school type or political ideology.
The State Auditor possesses enormous public power. That power should be used to protect taxpayers—not to advance the political campaign against traditional public education.
The St. Louis Board of Education should cooperate fully with legitimate financial oversight while refusing to compromise its legal position in pending litigation.
And Auditor Fitzpatrick should answer a simple question:
If this is really about accountability, why isn’t everyone being held to the same standard?
This article was originally published by Missouri Independent and is republished by MetroSTL under a Creative Commons license. The reporting is the outlet’s; please support them.