Brockton accounts review: district outlines steps to centralize warrants, stops distributed credit-card use

At an accounts review subcommittee meeting Feb. 25, Brockton Public Schools officials outlined a multi-step plan to centralize invoice and payroll warrants, tighten procurement controls and stop the practice of multiple department-issued credit cards after the city auditor flagged past procedures.

Superintendent (name not provided) told the committee the district will begin by compiling scanned accounts-payable and payroll documents in a central Munis folder that the superintendent, the CFO and school committee members can access for review. That step, staff said, is intended to give committee members oversight before warrants are submitted to the city auditor. Next steps include submitting compiled packages to the city auditor rather than piecemeal submissions from individual departments, implementing an electronic approval workflow (DocuSign) in coordination with the city, and ultimately reaching a point where approvals occur before the treasurer issues payments.

The superintendent said the district previously allowed many department credit cards—she estimated about 14–15—and that use was stopped immediately after the city auditor raised concerns. The district will cancel the multiple cards and maintain a single centrally held credit card, usable only for limited vendors that do not accept purchase orders (for example, the RMV). The school CFO will be the sole holder of that district credit card; requests to use it must be submitted in writing and approved by the CFO.

City processes were also described. Staff explained that historically schools and departments sent paper invoices directly to the city auditor, who entered them into Munis and then the treasurer processed payroll and checks. The district wants to streamline that process so the finance office compiles and vets invoices first to avoid duplication and improve oversight.

Committee members were shown the year-to-date budget report, which staff said is posted to the district website. Officials highlighted several items on the report: a FY24 carryover appropriation of $7.2 million that the city posted to the district budget and a $6 million transfer approved by city council and recorded to support non-net-school spending (transportation). Staff said $372,125 in a non-net-school spending transportation allotment (for new vehicles) will be reallocated to transportation salaries and overtime because the funds will not be used for vehicles.

The superintendent said the district is collaborating with the city solicitor, city auditor and city CFO to correct prior procurement and purchasing practices, including retroactive contracting where purchase orders were not used. The district presented a set of unpaid credit-card receipts and related invoices that were flagged by the city auditor; staff said those will be presented to the full school committee next week for approval as a one-time cleanup so the city auditor can release payment. The items cited include multiple small credit-card charges (the agenda packet listed Shaw’s charges totaling $5,974 and Bank of America-credit-card–related items totaling roughly $15,391). Staff said the district has a plan to process the retroactive items in collaboration with the city solicitor’s office and that many unpaid bills are being handled first by priority and then cleared month by month.

Members asked for follow-up data: which account numbers back each aggregated line in the published PDF budget, explanations for negative percentages on certain budget lines, and a timeline for implementing the centralized warrant workflow. CFO Trish Boyer (named in the meeting) said she would request account-number detail from Open Architects, which prepared the digestible version of the year-to-date report. The superintendent said the team hopes to trial the centralization/compilation step immediately and to show initial progress by April, with a longer two-year remediation plan for cleaning up legacy contracts and payments.

Committee members expressed support for the tighter controls and for work with the city auditor; they also asked that the subcommittee and full committee receive clearer, more digestible budget reports that show remaining balances as well as expenditures. Several members noted the practical effect of the change—program coordinators who had used credit cards will need procurement support and training to use purchase orders and contracted vendors going forward.

The subcommittee agreed to review the flagged unpaid-invoice packet at the full committee meeting next week and to continue regular accounts-review meetings going forward.