'Devastating day': More layoffs to come for Brockton schools on heels of 130 pink slips

BROCKTON — On Monday, Superintendent of Brockton Public Schools Mike Thomas and the schools' principals met with many teachers, one at a time, in their respective buildings to explain that they could be one of 130 staff members to be laid off come next school year.

“You give them out one at a time so you can sit and talk with each person and explain,” Thomas said at Tuesday evening’s school committee meeting.

“It’s just a very tough day.”

In all, 172 certified staff members in Brockton Public Schools (BPS) received pink reduction in force notices signaling their position could be one of 130 the district plans to eliminate. With student enrollment in Brockton schools plummeting and transportation costs rising, the district is experiencing an $18 million deficit.

Additional layoff notices for non-certified staff will be discussed at the next school committee meeting.

“The last thing we want to do is lay people off,” Thomas said. “When it comes to the needs of students these people are extremely important.”

Although Michelle Borcek, an English teacher at Brockton Virtual Learning Academy who’s worked in BPS for 20 years, didn’t receive a layoff notice, her voice still sounded shaky as she talked to the school committee at Tuesday night’s meeting about her colleagues at risk.

“We give so much every single day for our kids,” Borcek said. “Please, please, please make sure that you’re talking to us…because we know our students and we know how to help them best.”

More layoffs to come by June 1

Tuesday evening, BPS' Chief Financial Officer Aldo Petronio said that more layoffs for non-certified employees will be decided before the deadline of June 1. Petronio, Thomas and other district executives are discussing their plan for pink slips and will provide an update soon.

"We are reviewing the positions and staff levels where we can make adjustments and cuts," Petronio said at the finance subcommittee meeting.

"By the next meeting, we should have a pretty good idea of who we're basically going to pink slip or blue slip on those positions to get us balanced in the budget," he said.

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The next committee meeting is tentatively planned for May 30. The following meeting is planned for June 6, and the next scheduled finance subcommittee meeting is June 20.

Were some layoffs preventable?

Kimerly Gibson also had a busy day Monday. Gibson, the president of the Brockton Education Association — the union that negotiates contracts for Brockton's teachers, said she received emails and calls all day from teachers she represents.

"It was a very devastating day for my teachers," Gibson said at Tuesday's school committee meeting. "We've come so far since COVID and losing 130 will put us back."

The school district lost roughly $7 million in funding due to the dropping student enrollment. But if the district had 69 more students who qualified as low-income, the district could have received an extra $6 million — roughly one-third of the $18 million deficit.

"Some of those staff layoffs are preventable by the state," Gibson said.

As of Oct. 1, students from low-income families made up 79.59% of the student body, meaning the district qualifies for low-income "Group 11" funding from the state. To qualify for Group 12, Low-income students must comprise at least 80% of the district's student body.

"The state's failure to round up to 80%, which would move the district up to the low-income Group 12, will cost the district $6.4 million and dozens of teachers' jobs," Gibson said.

If the district added 69 low-income students to its enrollment, it would reach the 80% benchmark.

"$6.5 million would make a huge difference for us, and that part is disappointing," Thomas said. "But it's our reality."

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Why is the budget $18 million short?

Petronio said teacher salaries are "restricted" parts of BPS's budget. The district can only spend a set amount of money on staff payroll. The amount is dependent on how many students are enrolled in the district.

Brockton's student enrollment has fallen over the past five years, and the district has received less funding from the state government. Meanwhile, the district's expenses are rising. There are several reasons for these shifts:

• Students are bleeding from BPS and moving to private schools, charter schools or other choice schools in other districts. On Tuesday, the committee unanimously voted to opt into Massachusetts' school choice program again for next year, which it's been a part of for the last 20 years.

• Due to the high cost of real estate in Brockton, families are starting to leave Brockton and move to other cities like New Bedford and Fall River, Petronio said.

• The district has seen an influx of special education students, requiring the district to hire more special education teachers.

• The cost for transportation has increased due to longer bus routes, more stops and more buses — particularly expensive, half-sized buses for special education students.

• Over 1,000 BPS students are experiencing homelessness and some live as far away as Fall River or the outskirts of Boston, adding to the cost.

The budget gets the green light

The school committee approved the annual budget for Fiscal Year 2024 as proposed a very devastating day — including needing layoffs — at Tuesday evening's meeting.

Thomas said that within the last four years, the school district has hired the highest number of teachers of color.

"I was hoping to be the first superintendent in a long time to not give out RIF (reduction in force) notices," Thomas said. "I want to apologize to those people who got RIF notices."

The proposed budget totals $219 million. The district asked for an additional non-net budget of $14 million.

The Brockton City Council will vote on whether to approve the proposed school budget at hearings on June 13 and 14.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton super Thomas: 'I want to apologize' to 130 laid off teachers