Story Highlights

What’s This?

• Steward Stiles III claims St. Louis Voices Academy fired him for whistleblowing.
• The charter school's former director allegedly hired multiple family members in various roles.
• Missouri regulators placed the school on probation after a child safety incident.

A former administrator at the St. Louis Voices Academy of Media Arts charter elementary school says he was fired in retaliation for reporting alleged nepotism, safety concerns, and violations of state and federal law, according to a lawsuit filed in St. Louis Circuit Court.

Steward Stiles III, who served as the school’s assistant director of family and community partnership from January 2024 until December 2025, claims the charter school and two of its leaders — former Executive Director Hollie Russell-West and Board Chair Robert Payne — targeted him after he submitted whistleblower complaints to state oversight officials.

The Missouri Charter Public School Commission (MCPSC) in November put St. Louis Voices Academy of Media Arts, at 1220 Olive St. in Downtown West, on probation and temporarily shut it down over safety concerns after an 8-year-old girl left campus for at least an hour unnoticed. The school’s founding executive director, Hollie Russell-West, resigned in late December.

According to the Jan. 28 petition, Stiles first raised concerns around May 15, 2025, about “escalating hostility, dysfunctional leadership, and nepotism practices.” His report, made to an undisclosed former...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMipgFBVV95cUxNX0ZEcXliOEhKM1I0RHpJQ2Z3...