A longtime St. Louis resident is suing St. Louis Public Schools and former district officials demanding they return public funds that an audit found were misused.
Neil Hogan, a former sheriff lieutenant, filed a lawsuit on Monday and is represented by the St. Louis firm Kistner, Hamilton, Elam and Martin. It’s unclear if Hogan has any ties to the school district beyond being a taxpayer in the city.
The lawsuit names the school district, former Superintendent Keisha Scarlett, former Board of Education President Toni Cousins and SMJ Communications LLC.
Hogan said he hopes the lawsuit will remind St. Louis residents to pay attention to how their tax dollars are spent by officials.
“They have been given the opportunity to serve the city, to serve the people that are paying the taxes, and now they’ve decided that it would be a good opportunity to abuse that privilege, and spend all kinds of money that they had no right to spend,” Hogan said.
The lawsuit cites an audit led by Armanino in December 2024, which found that Scarlett had misused public funds and violated district hiring and travel policies.
Scarlett was fired by the board last year. She has denied any wrongdoing in the past, but did not respond to a request for comment regarding Hogan’s lawsuit. Sherry Culves, who represented Scarlett in the fall, also did not respond to a request for comment.
The audit, which was commissioned by the school board, found that Scarlett had violated district procedures around contract procurement.
Any contract that will cost more than $50,000 requires board approval. According to the audit, SMJ Communications was awarded an $84,000 contract, but there was no evidence that the school board voted to approve it.
The lawsuit states that Cousins also violated district policy by using public funds for hotel room charges that exceeded $350 per night, meals that were over the $50 per diem and airline upgrades. These details were first reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Cousins did not respond to a request for comment.
Last year, St. Louis Public Radio obtained records that showed over $200,000 in charges on credit cards assigned to the superintendent and the superintendent’s office.
The charges included food delivery services like UberEats and DoorDash, flower deliveries and purchases at Bath & Body Works. Neither Scarlett nor district officials have provided an explanation for these charges.
Charles Poole, SLPS executive director of communications, said the district does not comment on pending litigation.
SLPS has since recalled all district credit cards and implemented a stricter policy on who can use the cards and when. It has hired an internal auditor and a new chief financial officer. The district has also started monthly meetings around the 2025-26 school year, which are open to the public.
The district is currently being investigated by Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick’s office. The report is to be released later this year.
