BROCKTON — Three Brockton School Committee members one by one switched their votes in a dramatic reversal ending months of deadlock over who would help lead the board as it grapples with turmoil in the schools amid a budget crisis.
At the Brockton School Committee meeting on Tuesday, the school board nearly unanimously elected Tony Rodrigues as its next vice chair, two months after the board first began voting for the position at its initial organizational meeting on Jan. 3.
“I never thought I’d be sitting in this seat being a part of the Brockton Public Schools,” Rodrigues said at Tuesday’s meeting held at Arnone Elementary School.
“I see the failures as an adult where they failed me a child,” he said of Brockton schools.
In a rare moment of emotion, Rodrigues got choked up during his acceptance speech Tuesday night.
“It’s a happy moment for me because of where and how I grew up, right across the street,” he said.
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How did each School Committee member vote?
Over the past two months, the same blocs of four voters on each side voted over and over — six times in all — for the same candidates. One one side, voting for Rodrigues were Joyce Asack, Ana Oliver, Claudio Gomes and Rodrigues himself.
On the other side, voting for incumbent Vice Chair Kathy Ehlers, were Mayor Robert Sullivan, school committee members Tim Sullivan and Judy Sullivan and Ehlers herself.
Mayor Robert Sullivan serves as chair of the School Committee by virtue of his position as mayor — making the vice chair the only leadership position selected by the members.
But this time was different.
On Tuesday night, there was only one nominee, Rodrigues, and all school board members voted for him in a roll call vote except Judy Sullivan, who abstained.
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‘We have a lot of work to do’
On Tuesday, Rodrigues rejected the idea that the board was unable to get work done during the fight for the vice chairmanship. He said they all talked every day, despite their disagreements.
“There wasn’t a power struggle,” Rodrigues said in his speech following Tuesday’s vote.
“But we have a lot of work to do,” said Rodrigues. “We’re going to work together and make sure we get this black cloud off from over our heads, and make sure that BPS is properly funded and make sure we make Brockton number one again.”
Mayor Robert Sullivan, one of the members who switched his vote to back Rodrigues, congratulated him on his victory.
“On Jan. 1, when we got sworn in, I talked about collaboration and Tony, Mr. Vice Chair, said the same thing. It’s about collaboration and we will continue to do that, so again, congratulations, Mr. Vice Chair,” Sullivan said.
Same four school board members requested National Guard
Rodrigues and the mayor were on different sides of the divisive issue of whether to request the National Guard be called in in the face of reports by teachers of shocking levels of violence and chaos at the high school.
The same bloc of school board members who originally backed Rodrigues — Asack, Oliver, Gomes and Rodrigues — sent a letter to the mayor asking him to ask the governor to deploy the National Guard at the high school to “prevent a potential tragedy.”
The request thrust the school district into the national spotlight, with Rodrigues even appearing on national television, on Fox Business on Feb. 21 to make the case for deploying the Guard. The suggestion was met with fierce and vocal pushback from community members who spoke out at the Feb. 27 School Committee meeting and elsewhere.
The mayor called deploying the Guard at the high school inappropriate and Gov. Maura Healy declined the request but said the state will fully fund a safety and security audit for all Brockton Public Schools.
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Brockton schools in crisis
Brockton Public Schools is facing several major issues from security and safety concerns in school buildings across the district, a major staffing shortage and a growing financial deficit stemming from a roughly $18 million overspending of the Fiscal Year 2023 budget.
Many teachers and staff have spoken at meetings since November about daily violence in the hallways as well as verbal and physical abuse from a small portion of BPS students. Several teachers have been injured while breaking up fights between students.
Meanwhile, committee members have been grappling with how to handle the budget deficit as an ongoing review of last school year’s budget conducted by state-funded data analysis company Open Architects has revealed several areas and departments that were underfunded, including transportation, special education and personnel.
