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The district found $15 million in unspent federal and state grants and froze some spending to save an additional $10 million.

In March, Brockton Public Schools’ budget situation appeared dire. The troubled school district was facing a $25 million deficit for the current school year after a shocking $18 million deficit the year before.

But now, Brockton schools may end this fiscal year on June 30 with a budget surplus, the district announced.

OpenArchitects, the independent auditor paid for by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to probe last year’s budget disaster, released a report in March warning of looming deficits. At the time, they projected a potential $19 to $25 million deficit.

Since then, they’ve identified more than $15 million in unspent funding from state and federal grants and programs, including federal pandemic relief. Previously, OpenArchitects found that BPS improperly managed grant funds.

BPS initiated a spending freeze in April through the end of this month to save an additional $10 million. The freeze includes tactics like delaying some hirings and the purchase of new student laptops and deferring purchases of some supplies and facilities maintenance, the district said in April.

The freezes wouldn’t impact student learning or school safety, BPS said at the time. 

Looking ahead to the next fiscal year

BPS took their budget request of just more than $250 million to the City of Brockton Tuesday night. It includes 97 “critically needed positions,” amounting to nearly $6 million. The positions, including elementary and English as a Second Language teachers, are needed following a significant increase in general enrollment and multilingual learners.

The proposed spending plan includes an additional $18 million in funding for transportation services. Last year, the district budgeted for $12 million for transportation but overspent that by nearly $3 million, according to BPS budget documents.

Brockton’s financial troubles stem in part from taking their bus services in-house. When the district bought their own fleet of buses, the School Committee said, they were told it could save money. Instead, they spent almost double their budget.

The School Committee has already endorsed the 2025 budget. On Tuesday night, Acting Superintendent of Schools James Cobb answered questions from the Brockton City Council at a budget hearing, including about requesting funds to hire more bus drivers.

“Since we’ve taken it in-house, we need to have an independent cost-effective outside transportation specialist tell us where are we going with this program. Is it really going to benefit us long-term?” Councilor At-Large Winthrop Farwell Jr. said Tuesday. 

Councilors heard from district administrators including multiple BPS assistant superintendents, the director of bilingual services, and the transportation director to discuss the proposed budget at the four-hour meeting.

“We got to be sensible about things. We got to be smart about things,” Council President Moises Rodrigues said. “Throwing money at things isn’t going to solve the problems that we have.”