See for yourself how Brockton schools are spending money in wake of massive deficits

BROCKTON — Brockton Public Schools has officially launched its online budget tracker where the public can see the school district's up-to-date spending report every two weeks.

Thursday morning, Oct. 5, BPS posted four spreadsheets on its website showing the district's budget spending as of Sept. 29 — just before the end of Fiscal Year 2024's first quarter. The spreadsheets, using data pulled directly from the school's accounting software, Munis, explain what percent of its Fiscal Year 2024 budget has been spent so far.

Following the announcement of BPS's $14.4 million budget deficit from Fiscal Year 2023, Brockton's Chief Financial Officer Troy Clarkson overhauled the school department's financial operations and how they utilize Munis — which Clarkson said is the most widely used accounting software for municipalities across the state.

At a School Committee meeting on Sept. 14, Clarkson announced that the district would regularly publish its budget tracking information in order to provide transparency regarding BPS's budget throughout the year, in light of the district's massive overspending from the previous year.

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School Committee Vice Chair Kathleen Ehlers said that in previous years, budget data from Munis was "very hard to read" and understand. Several committee members requested to see comprehensive budget information from Munis, but it was never provided.

“This is what I was asking for. The whole body was asking to see this, and we were told it couldn’t be done," said School Committee member Tony Rodgriguez at the meeting on Sept. 14.

See the budget tracker: How much has BPS spent so far in FY24?

What information is available?

In order for BPS to stay on track and spend within its budget by the end of the year, the school district should have spent around 24.86% of its budget at this point in the year.

The online tracker shows how much has been spent both in so-called "net-spending" — which covers most operational costs like teacher salaries and energy bills — and "non-net spending" — money that's used to pay for transportation costs including busing services and bus driver salaries.

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As of Sept. 29, net spending was below that target at 24.62% and non-net spending was over the target at 25.78%. Committee members and Clarkson said the district purchased six new school buses at the start of the school year, inflating the non-net spending percentage. Clarkson said he expects the percentage to balance out as the year progresses since the bus payments were made upfront.

The spreadsheets dive deeper into the budget to show how much has been spent on individual line items. Items highlighted in yellow are above the target percentage. Residents can also view how much of the budget was spent on individual school buildings within the district.

“What we are doing is actually taking that report down to a very granular level so that we will be able to tell you on a daily, weekly, monthly basis the spending not only in the categories … but by school,” Clarkson said.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton Public Schools budget tracker is online in wake of deficits