Brockton finance subcommittee approves six BEA layoff notices and $7.29M carryover prepayment after tense budget hearing

At a May 14 meeting of the Brockton Public Schools finance subcommittee, members approved the superintendent's recommendation to issue six reduction-in-force notices to Brockton Education Association positions and voted to apply $7,286,530.87 of the district's net-school-spending carryover to prepay tuition for next year.

The superintendent told the committee that the draft staffing reductions were painful but the result of a wider review of 43 positions, 12 of which were already vacant. "We eliminated 43 positions. 12 of them were already vacant…and the reduction in force letters that we would be giving would be, for 6 people," the superintendent said, explaining that seniority and bumping rights would determine final outcomes.

The meeting turned into a sustained dispute over the city's budget accounting and allowable Schedule 19 deductions. City CFO Dr. Clarkson told the panel the mayor will submit a proposed appropriation of $251,570,800 for Brockton Public Schools to the city council and explained the administration's approach to pension deductions. "We decided to put a 5% increase multiplier on that deduction...the budget that's before the city council takes credit for the principal and interest on the pension debt at a level of 36.2%," Dr. Clarkson said, describing how different calculation methods would change the schools'net spending figure.

Committee members repeatedly pressed the superintendent and the city CFO for earlier and fuller backup documentation of the numbers that produced the budget baseline. Several members said having the data earlier would have allowed more considered choices on which positions to cut. One committee member said she could not support immediate layoffs without more time to consult principals and stakeholders; another argued that early action was necessary to avoid midyear cuts like those that created the 2023 deficit.

The committee initially tied on a motion to adopt the superintendent's full recommendation but then agreed to separate the six BEA positions for an up-or-down vote. The motion to send notices to the six BEA positions passed on roll call (result recorded as: Miss Azek: reluctantly yes; Mister Pina: yes; Miss Sullivan: no; Miss Centeno: yes; Miss Santiago: yes; Chair Elizabeth: yes). One member recused themself from the BEA vote because of a relative in the bargaining unit.

Separately, and by a subsequent roll-call vote, the subcommittee approved spending $7,286,530.87 of the district's net-school-spending carryover to prepay tuition in the coming year; the superintendent said other portions of the proposed budget rely on that prepayment. The motion to suspend rules and vote on the carryover passed and the carryover-spend motion carried unanimously.

The superintendent warned that if the committee declined to authorize the recommended BEA notices the district would have to pursue reductions in other employee groups and nonunion positions that could produce deeper midyear impacts. Dr. Clarkson and the superintendent agreed to continue meeting with committee members and consultants to review Schedule 19 charges and pension-credit calculations before the next hearings with the city council.

Next steps: the committee will continue review of non-BEA cuts at its next scheduled meeting and follow up with city finance staff and Open Architects on Schedule 19 backup.