School officials have released the findings from a third-party reviewer into a more than $18 million budget deficit.
The report, conducted by Open Architects, says the “core drivers of the district’s budget deficit are costs associated with transportation, special education services and select employee benefits.”
The report determined that Brockton Public Schools never created a proper budget to account for the full costs of owning, running and maintaining a transportation fleet and associated operations.
It also determined that the district’s financial system, Munis, was not properly used to record approved budgets, track school and department budgets, and oversee significant expenditures.
The report also found that Brockton Public Schools are expected to exceed the current year’s budget by $19-25 million, due in part to transportation costs that are on pace to reach $22.5 million against an anticipated and budgeted $11.2 million.
Acting Superintendent Dr. James Cobbs said “What this report makes clear is that, while there are numerous significant and growing costs associated with providing students with a holistic education, we have not done a good enough job to plan for and mitigate those costs, nor have we taken enough care to adhere to budgeting best practices.”
Brockton Mayor Robert F. Sullivan said “We are thankful for this report by Open Architects and as it is a major step toward understanding the root causes of the school department budget deficit…The issues identified in the report are unacceptable. The city is taking action – with guidance and assistance from the Commonwealth – to address these issues in the short term and implement safeguards to ensure that nothing like this happens again.“
The full report can be found here.
