BROCKTON – Jose Duarte, retired principal of South Middle School, was named acting principal of Brockton High School effective next Monday. The announcement came Tuesday night by Acting Superintendent James Cobbs.
At Tuesday’s School Committee meeting, Cobbs – who is currently serving as both Brockton Public Schools’ acting superintendent and Brockton High’s principal – said Duarte will temporarily take over as principal for at least two months until a permanent principal is hired in January.
“I feel that I can be better served for the district and the school to withdraw myself and put an acting principal in place until we hire the permanent principal,” Cobbs said.
Cobbs took over as principal and superintendent after BPS Superintendent Mike Thomas left on medical leave as the district discovered a $14.4 million budget deficit for Fiscal Year 2023. In June, a few months before the deficit became public, Thomas was named interim principal to provide additional support to the school, which boasts roughly 3,600 students.
“It’s crazy to me that we even thought that our previous superintendent could take on that task,” said School Committee member Cynthia Rivas Mendes. “It’s almost impossible to do two or three roles.”
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Who is Jose Duarte?
Jose Duarte is the former principal of South Middle School, where he oversaw many students who are now enrolled at Brockton High School.
“He was great in inspiring a culture there and he’ll have students here who are familiar with him from their time at South Middle School,” said School Committee member Jared Homer. “I think he’ll be able to hit the ground running and he’ll have familiarity with the student population.”
Duarte will start at BHS as early as this week, or by next Monday at the latest.
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Many school committee members praised Cobbs’ decision to hire Duarte, and Mayor Robert Sullivan, who also serves as chair of the school committee, said Duarte was a “phenomenal leader.”
“He’s going to do some great things up here,” said School Committee member Tony Rodrigues. “His leadership speaks volumes.”
Search for permanent BHS principal
Cobbs said applications for a permanent BHS principal close on Thursday. To date he has received 11 applications. He expects to have the position filled and the new principal working inside the school by Jan. 1.
Cobbs expects Duarte to stay on for “a couple weeks” after a permanent replacement is found to help smooth the transition of power. He said there is enough money in this year’s budget to pay both principals during that overlapping period.
How Cobbs became super and principal
Before taking medical leave in late August, Thomas took on the dual role of BPS superintendent and interim BHS principal as the high school underwent various policy and personnel changes.
Brockton High is one of the largest schools and student bodies in the state, and School Committee Vice-Chair Kathleen Ehlers said at the time of Thomas taking the job that the high school “is requiring a lot of attention.”
“We need strong leadership at the high school,” she said. “We need to roll our policies that are going to be in the best interest of our students but are also going to be feasible for us as a community this large.”
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Some committee members expressed Tuesday night their hesitation to put the superintendent as principal of the high school.
“I was very vocal to say that was impossible, an impossible task,” said Mendes. “When we put people in position, this is impacting the kids.”
“I continuously said ‘this sounds like a white savior mentality,'” Mendes said. “It’s not equitable that we’re here now because of the vote that we made two, three months ago thinking that that was going to be possible.”
Several months later, the city announced the school district overspent its budget the previous school year by over $14 million. Thomas promptly left on medical leave and Cobbs was named the interim superintendent and, given Thomas’ dual role, principal of the high school.
“What I’ve decided to do in discussion with the cabinet and Deputy Superintendent was to take a step back,” Cobbs said Tuesday night. “All of us just do not have the time to do [that job] with a district job.”
The announcement comes six weeks into the 2023-24 school year, during which Cobbs said the main focus was to get the high school up and running.
“We need to give our kids a little bit of stability,” said School Committee member Joyce Asack.
