Budget clash as Brockton schools plead for 97 'critically needed' staff. If city says no?

BROCKTON — While city departments tighten their belts, Brockton Public Schools haven't. That's the picture city councilors sought to paint as they clashed with school administrators about spending during a four-hour-and-forty-minute budget hearing on Tuesday.

BPS leaders are seeking $232 million for the fiscal year that starts on July 1. That's $6 million more than Mayor Robert F. Sullivan has proposed in a budget that the Brockton City Council must pass by June 30, and that he brought before state officials to dodge receivership.

"The school department just doesn't have a grasp on reality, in my opinion, as to what our financial reality is," said Councilor-at-large Win Farwell.

In day two of a week full of budget hearings for fiscal year 2025, city councilors questioned Acting Superintendent James Cobbs and his cabinet about the school's budget proposal for the upcoming year. Departments across the city have made massive cuts in order to keep the city's budget stable, but the school committee submitted a more expensive budget than expected.

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The school district's proposal comes after BPS overspent its fiscal year 2023 budget by more than $18 million and the city narrowly balanced its fiscal year 2024 budget, dodging a state takeover of the city.

In a change from previous years, individual heads of school departments spoke directly to city councilors.

"I know you're angels in disguise," Ward 4 City Councilor Susan Nicastro said after the department heads introduced themselves. "You've got a spending problem in the Brockton Public Schools, and it has to be brought under control."

One after the other, city councilors drew contrasts with how the city handles its money versus the schools' approach. Most city departments will try to deliver the same level of services they did last year with fewer dollars under Sullivan's budget proposal, though some city departments would see increases. The library, for instance, would get 16% fewer dollars than it did last year.

"The school's definition of 'need' is closer to 'want,'" Ward 6 City Councilor Jack Lally said.

The proposal from BPS includes an additional $5.9 million to fund 97 new "critically needed" staff positions, many of whom would work in classrooms directly with students who are learning English or require special education services that are legally mandated by state laws.

But city representatives looked at the schools' existing employees to see if there were areas that additional cuts could be made to pay for these new staff positions.

Top paid school employees 11 Brockton school employees topped $200K in 2023 — including 3 getting paid not to work

Councilors: Schools pay more for same jobs

Farwell, Lally and other councilors noted that employees on the city side often make much less than their peers in the schools. He cited there being four associate directors for human resources in BPS, making a total of $925,000 versus the city, which has just one person running the human resources department who makes $100,000 less than the HR director for the schools.

Top paid city employees Here's how much money every Brockton employee earned in 2023

Union contracts tie schools' hands?

Cobbs, the acting superintendent, said his hands were tied.

"Those people are contracted employees," he said in a line of questioning continued by Councilor-at-large Jean Bradley Derenoncourt. "I can't just legally go in and say I'm going to cut your salary because I think it's too high."

Cobbs noted ways he has trimmed costs while honoring union contracts. Under questioning from Farwell about why the head of the school transportation department got $53,839 in overtime in fiscal year 2023, Cobbs said he has almost eliminated OT in that department.

"That's what I fixed, that's what I inherited," Cobbs said. "I can't justify all the overtime. That's why I stopped it."

Cobbs: State will fine schools $6M if they don't provide mandated SPED services

Cobbs also pointed out that if the school district doesn't provide enough teaching staff to account for its growing population of students with disabilities who will need special needs services that are legally required by the state, they'll end up paying about $6 million in liability penalties.

"It's not an option ... It's a law and right now we're pretty much in violation of that law," he said. "That money is going to have to come from somewhere,"

Councilor-at-large Moises Rodrigues said the schools are missing the sense of urgency that the city has, given its precarious financial position.

"They were coming to take over this system," Rodrigues said of state officials who have been demanding fiscal restraint from Brockton. "They were coming to take over this city. And, thank God we put our minds together to find a solution to delay that."

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Budget clash as Brockton schools plead for 'critically needed' staff