Burlington School Committee Pressured On Finances

BURLINGTON, MA -- Burlington School Committee members were put on the defensive Tuesday night, as residents pressed the board and Superintendent Eric Conti for answers to questions raised by a series of recent financial reports. Those reports uncovered mismanagement of revolving accounts in the school district. Fraud and wrongdoing have not been ruled out and funds from the school's $55 million operating budget need to be moved to cover the deficits in the revolving accounts.

"I've seen a very tepid response from this committee....all of the public statements from this committee and Dr. Conti have downplayed the importance of these findings," said Barbara L'Heureux, the mother of a senior at Burlington High School. "What we have here at best is negligence on the part of the school administration in handling taxpayer money."

The speakers, who raised their concerns in the public comment portions of the meeting, were particularly concerned with the recent hiring of a head of operations with no financial training or credentials whose job requires him to oversee district finances. The only specific education requirement listed on the job posting was for a bachelor's degree in computer science, a caveat that seemed to favor Robert Cunha, the internal candidate and eventual hire for the position.

Cunha replaced Craig Robinson, who also did not have a background in finance. L'Heureux asked the board to commit to hiring someone with financial credentials and experience in managing a multi-million dollar budget. She also said the district should consider hiring someone who understands the intricacies of government and school funding, and the myriad of state regulations

School committee members said while they were concerned with the issues raised in the reports, they were confident in policies the district and Conti have adopted, including Cunha's hiring. That included a reorganization of the district's operations staff and the implementation policies based on the independent auditor's recommendations.

"At this point I have complete confidence in way we have our financial department set up," committee member Kristin A. Russo told L'Heureux.

Later in the meeting, after the speakers had left, Chairman Thomas Murphy Jr. responded to some of the points they had raised. Murphy was late to the meeting but caught the last few minutes and "got the gist" of the comments that were made during the meeting's public comment period. He said Cunha was "extremely qualified" and a "good guy," and that he had confidence in Conti's decision to hire him for the position.

"This is not a corporation. This is a school department, that works with people, that works with children, that works with parents and teachers," he said. "You got to know the town and you got to know the people in the town. It's not just looking at a piece of paper and crossing out numbers...It's very discouraging for me to come in and hear people say some of the thing I heard the tail end of. It's not fair and in my opinion it's not called for."

More on this story:

• Burlington School Finance Job Posting Favored Internal Candidate (1/2/2018)
• Burlington Can't Rule Out Wrongdoing In School Account Deficits(12/22/2017)
• Burlington Superintendent: No Doubts About Faculty Honesty(12/12/2017)
• Fresh Produce Fed Deficit In Burlington Schools Cafeteria Account(12/11/2017)
• Town Meeting Members Want Full Audit Of School Finances(12/8/2017)
• Superintendent Responds To Audits Critical Of School Spending(12/6/2017)
• Few Answers From Incomplete Audit Of Burlington Music Program(12/5/2017)
• Audit Of Burlington Schools Student Funds Uncovers Lax Oversight(12/4/2017)

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Patch file photo of Thomas Murphy.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).