After a $14 million school budget deficit was discovered in Brockton, Massachusetts, the superintendent tells NBC10 Boston "nothing criminal" occurred.
Brockton Mayor Robert Sullivan announced the shortfall after a four-hour executive session Thursday evening. Absent from that meeting was Superintendent Michael Thomas, who is on medical leave for high blood pressure.
We asked Thomas on Friday how the district went so far over budget.
"It's just, you know, things go quickly in a school district," Thomas said. "Staffing. Extra staff. We had safety and security concerns. We had transportation costs for a lot of different reasons. So there's a lot of different things that went into it."
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At an emergency meeting the Brockton School Committee held Friday afternoon, James Cobbs was approved as acting superintendent by a nearly unanimous vote. He is principal of Thomas Edison Academy and Brockton Public Schools' executive director of operations.
"We are taking this extremely serious," Sullivan said Friday.
Parents and community members are frustrated, and wondering how the financial problems will impact students and staff — especially considering that the district announced in May it would lay off more than 100 positions as it faced an $18 million deficit.
"Where's the money? Where did it go? How are we going to retrieve that?" asked parent Leona Harris. "And ultimately, how is this going to affect our kids?"
"If this money's not going towards us, where is it going to?" asked a student.
"We overspent the budget," Thomas told NBC10 Boston. "Nothing criminal, nothing inappropriate. All of the money went towards kids."
In addition to putting Cobbs in charge, the school committee approved an independent and external third-party audit into the district's finances.
"The independent audit will help us better understand the unbudgeted expenses that caused the Fiscal Year 2023 deficit in the amount of about $14.4 million."
We asked Thomas about the prospect of returning as superintendent, and if he is medically able to do so.
"Not at this point, but hopefully I get my blood pressure under control, and we'll see what happens," he said.
Thomas said he knows the decision on whether he will come back is not his to make, and that it's up to the committee.
Sullivan said an update will be provided next week.
