Key St. Louis Public Schools leader also will live in Texas

ST. LOUIS — The newly hired chief communications director for St. Louis Public Schools will split her time between Missouri and Texas according to her social media posts that have since been deleted.

Phoenix Jackson, who describes herself as “a Spirit helping other Spirits evolve, expand, and heal through my books, private spiritual readings, life guidance, and entrepreneurial endeavors,” recently took the role that the school district advertised with a salary of $165,000 to $185,000.

“Well in the last two months I have accepted and transitioned partly to a new city for my new career as Chief Communications Officer of Saint Louis Public Schools. Yes, I still own and still live in my family home in Houston. That isn’t going anywhere, but I also have a condo in the city of St. Louis. I will float as needed between two lives and I love that for me. That’s every Sagittarius’ dream: freedom with balance,” Jackson wrote Tuesday in posts that have since been deleted.

“Although I still do consulting to support national and global entities for change, I also have craved simplicity for a while. … I am thankful for the change,” she wrote.

George Sells, spokesman for SLPS, said in a statement Wednesday that Jackson is “very much dedicated to the positive outcomes of our students and community alike.” Jackson is keeping the Houston home for her college-aged son “to commute to as needed.”

“Having prepared and consistent environments is very important to her as a parent,” Sells said.

According to her social media posts, Jackson’s son will be a freshman this fall at a state university in Nacogdoches, Texas about 150 miles from Houston.

Jackson is the latest in a string of out-of-state hires for cabinet positions under second-year Superintendent Keisha Scarlett, who came from Seattle to lead the district in fall 2023. Lori Willis, who last served as the district’s chief communications officer, left the job soon after Scarlett’s arrival.

“I think the thing that we need the very most is a chief communications officer who’s starting Aug. 1,” Scarlett said at the SLPS board meeting July 2. “Going the entire school year pretty much without a chief communications officer, it’s been difficult for my entry as a brand-new superintendent and for the district as well.”

Jackson has never worked for a school district, according to her LinkedIn profile. She is CEO of Phoenix Affect, “a Denver and Houston based communications, design and public relations agency, known for its expertise in online and public brand development and intention based marketing.”

In another post to Facebook that was removed, Jackson said she is designing her St. Louis condo “very differently from my home so I can experience a different vibe in both environments. … I absolutely love my new condo… the exposed brick, two large chandeliers, concrete floors.”

The hire comes as SLPS faces a transportation crisis with a shortage of school buses to serve students this fall. Families were notified Wednesday of new bell times for every SLPS building as part of a strategy to reduce the number of bus routes. Classes in most middle and high schools will start at 7:15 a.m. beginning Aug. 19, the first day of school. Elementary schools will dismiss students as late as 4:22 p.m. each day.

“With our collective efforts, I am confident we can facilitate a smooth transition and maintain a supportive learning environment for all our students. We are all in this together,” wrote Allison Deno, SLPS’s new chief of schools who…