Missouri auditor declines charter school audit request

MISSOURI – Missouri’s state auditor has denied a request to look into the state’s charter schools.

Earlier this month, FOX 2 reported that the local teacher’s union requested the audit.

“There’ve been more than 50 percent of the charter schools that have opened in the St. Louis area that have closed within 10 years. So, there’s some money that churns through that, and maybe it’s all been legitimately handled. We hope that it has been,” Local 420 teacher’s union spokesperson Byron Clemens said.

Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick denied the initial request with the following response:

“While I would love to thoroughly review the performance of every school in the state, we prioritize audits where concerns have been identified and brought to our attention, or there is another compelling audit interest. In my time as State Auditor, we have received only one complaint regarding a charter school. After thoroughly investigating this complaint, it was determined the concerns had already been addressed and expending our limited resources auditing that particular school would not be the most beneficial use of our time for taxpayers. I encourage anyone with specific concerns of improper activity in any charter school to contact our Whistleblower Hotline. We will investigate any submissions we receive, and if the claims are found to be credible and an audit would be beneficial to taxpayers, we will move as quickly as we can to begin that work.”

“He’s to audit. He’s not looking for wrongdoing. He’s to look at numbers, and there’s a public interest. We really want to know what happened to the money,” Clemens said.

The teacher’s union isn’t claiming any wrongdoing but is pointing to two charter schools that closed recently: La Salle Charter School and Hawthorn Leadership School for Girls. By law, charter schools have 12 months to satisfy all of their financial obligations and then return any remaining state and federal funding.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education says La Salle returned $450,000 to the state this past May. About $271,000 of that went to Saint Louis Public Schools, and the rest was split between 14 other charter schools.

According to Hawthorn’s 2023 audit, it brought in almost $3.3 million in revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, with $1.2 million of that being state revenue. Hawthorn has not returned any funding, but that is not necessarily a sign of any wrongdoing.

Missouri Charter Public Schools Association Executive Director Noah Devine sent FOX 2 the following statement that reads, in part:

“Regarding Hawthorne Leadership School for Girls and La Salle Charter School, to our knowledge, both schools are still in the process of satisfying their closure obligations under state law.

“ We have made it clear that we (charter schools) welcome transparency and accountability, and, as holders of public dollars and as leaders in public (charter) education, we cannot stress that enough. We would note that this letter is not properly addressed to the state auditor, and further, no credible allegations or substantiated questions have been brought forth. If there were, we know the state would hold us accountable, and we would be under the same level of scrutiny as SLPS.

“We remain steadfast and focused on a key task: educating and supporting all children. We ask that all community stakeholders and leaders agree to do the same. We are disappointed that a very few adults in St. Louis appear committed to us vs. them discourse instead of focusing the efforts of spending every dollar well to best meet the needs of students and families.”

FOX 2 did reach out to Washington University, the sponsor for Hawthorn, but we have not heard back.

There are also laws that detail how closing schools handle supplies and other assets. DESE says, “An asset lottery takes place for supplies, materials, etc. DESE is not involved in the process. The charter sponsor is tasked with monitoring that process and the school’s policy on distribution.”

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