BROCKTON — Superintendent Mike Thomas claims Mayor Robert F. Sullivan knew in April 2023 that Brockton schools had overspent by at least $8 million.
That’s four months before it became public that the deficit had reached $14.4 million.
“Unfortunately, the mayor has not been truthful from the beginning, especially about what he knew and when he knew it, and it is very unlikely that the city CFO has been either,” Thomas wrote in a June letter to the School Committee.
Thomas confirmed Monday to The Enterprise that he wrote the letter and stands by the allegations.
Sullivan declined to comment on the allegation, saying that results of an investigation into the debacle are coming soon. He released a statement via a spokesperson on Tuesday: “There is an ongoing external independent investigation, called for by the Mayor, into the School Department’s finances. The Mayor looks forward to those results and will make them public as soon as they are completed.”
What happened at April 24, 2023 meeting?
Thomas and two top school finance officials met with Sullivan and the city’s CFO Troy Clarkson on April 24, 2023, and told them “we were working on a $8-9 million deficit,” according to Thomas’ letter.
The mayor’s alleged response, the way Thomas tells it? “Jesus Christ, this is an election year,” Thomas claims Sullivan said. “I don’t need any more people pulling papers to run against me.”
For that election, the deadline to turn in nomination papers was Aug. 1, 2023.
“I think he covered up what he knew when he knew it,” Thomas said Monday. “Nobody did anything wrong. There was no wrongdoing by him, Troy, nobody. There’s no money missing, or any of that nonsense. I just think he was so obsessed with being re-elected.”
Businessman Fred Fontaine faced Sullivan in the general election on Nov. 7, 2023. Sullivan won handily, 66% to 34%, to secure a third term.
What did the mayor say publicly before the election?
The mayor — who is chairman of the school committee — addressed the question of when he knew about the massive deficit during a mayoral debate on WATD in October 2023.
Here’s how the mayor said he’d respond to residents with concerns he must have known about the deficit before August:
“People know me and my reputation, the way I was brought up,” Sullivan said on the radio in response to a question from The Enterprise. “I’m an honest person. There’s no need to lie. You only know what you’re told, right? That’s all. That’s the facts. Myself and the seven members I serve with, we weren’t told. I was told on Aug. 8.”
Sullivan reiterated that he was dismayed when he found out and vowed to bring systemic change.
“I can only tell people the truth. That’s what I’ve always done, and people are either going to believe me or they’re not going to believe me,” Sullivan said.
‘Bring him back’ At explosive Brockton school board meeting superintendent tears into mayor
Thomas has been on full-salary leave for a year
Thomas has been out on paid leave for more than a year. He is widely expected to be fired when the investigations into the deficit are made public. He spoke to the Enterprise Monday about the 8-page letter he sent to the school committee in June. The superintendent said he learned that the actual deficit was $14.4 million five days before Sullivan did.
News of the $14.4 million deficit reached the public on Aug. 31, 2023, when Sullivan read a statement following a four-hour closed-door meeting of the school committee.
“As mayor and a BPS alum and parent of a student in the BPS system, I’m extremely dismayed, collectively we are all dismayed, by the situation, and we are committed to ensure that we will rectify the situation, appoint new leadership and move forward with our strategy, our concise strategy, to deliver the best schools for our teachers, our staff, our students and, of course, our guardians.”
Sullivan did not take any questions and did not explain what he meant by the $14 million deficit that was “recently brought to the attention of the Brockton School Committee.”
“He acted like he just found out about the deficit,” Thomas wrote in his letter.
How did school committee respond to Thomas’ letter?
Asked what response the school committee had to the letter, Thomas said the only response was a warning from a school attorney that he was not supposed to have any contact with school committee members.
Send your news tips to reporter Chris Helms by email at CHelms@enterprisenews.com or connect on X at @HelmsNews.
