Music Director Says He Always Acted In Best Interest Of Students

BURLINGTON, MA -- The Burlington High School music director at the center of allegations of financial mismanagement spoke publicly about the issue for the first time at Tuesday night's school committee meeting. With his union rep at his side, John Middleton-Cox read a prepared statement after discussing his department's Fiscal Year 2019 budget request. Middleton-Cox said he had never done anything without the best interest of students in mind and that he was the victim of an online campaign to damage his reputation.

"Recently my integrity has been called into question online and on social media, and I want to express my gratitude to the school committee for supporting me throughout this and two audits this year, and the conversations that followed," Middleton-Cox said. "I want to be clear first and foremost that I have always had the best interests of the students and the program in mind. I'm a music teacher and my priorities have always been my students and their experiences as they develop in our program."

Last month the school committee reviewed a report that showed Middleton-Cox collected and spent at least $14,000 over the course of two years without depositing the money with the town treasurer as required. When asked about the account by auditors, Middleton-Cox was only able to provide documentation for $6,000 of the expenditures. He also told auditors that he routinely reimbursed himself and others for expenses from the cash receipts, which he kept in a safe that only he and a secretary had access to.

At that meeting on Feb. 27, Middleton-Cox was never mentioned by name and the school committee accepted the blame for the problems with the performing arts revolving account. But in the days that followed the meeting more details emerged and some parents called for Middleton-Cox and Superintendent Eric Conti to be fired. The school department has said it has implemented new policies that will prevent similar problems in the future, and the five elected members of the school committee have signaled that Middleton-Cox and Conti will face no disciplinary action.

"I've always followed the directions of my supervisors. Some, online, have tried to make an issue of a petty cash account and why it existed," Middleton-Cox said Tuesday. "I started this practice after the school department suggested the department have cash handy for last-minute expenses related to supplies such as makeup, and to repay parents and staff for purchasing supplies at the last minute related to the shows. I welcome the new policies and procedures with a clear delineation from the business office of how we will handle revenue, receipts and purchases. I feel confident we will be able to track all the transactions fully."

Middleton-Cox went on to say that a public records request had been filed for receipts from the account. He said he wanted to preemptively explain two expenses "that may raise questions." The first was for a restaurant bill in which Middleton-Cox claimed he was only reimbursed for food. The second was for a gift certificate for a massage that was given to as "a thank you gift for the hard work of a guest director." Middleton-Cox did not identify who the gift certificate recipient was.

"Since September we are following all the new recommendations made by the new business staff as well as the outside auditors," he said. "I'm confident these changes will help us continue to support the Burlington students as they perform quality performances that make them proud and make us proud of them."

The committee did not comment on Middleton-Cox's statement or ask follow-up questions. Earlier in the meeting, when the committee reviewed the budget request for the music department, Conti reiterated that the performing arts revolving fund that caused the problems was being "reorganized" to avoid similar problems in the future.

While the report was presented by Town Auditor Jim Powers to the school committee at its Feb. 27 meeting, Middleton-Cox was never mentioned by name, nor was the unauthorized account discussed in the public forum. Chairman Thomas Murphy said at that meeting the committee had not had enough time to review the report and made comments suggesting it was time to move past the audit, as new procedures were in place to safeguard school system funds in the future.

The review by Powers was a "deeper dive" into the music revolving account that was reviewed by Roselli, Clark & Associates last year after going from a $40,000 surplus to a $50,000 deficit over the course of three fiscal years. Roselli said it was unable to do a complete audit because it was not given a complete set of records, but still produced a report that raised questions about how the account was maintained and questioned the district's policies.

Like the outside auditing firm, Powers said he had trouble forming a complete picture because of less-than-rigid accounting practices. Still, Powers didn't recommend that the committee conduct a further review, noting that it wouldn't be cost effective. "There's only a limited amount of revenue that could possibly be missing," he said.

The original report by Roselli knew there as a cash box maintained by the music department, but that cash box was characterized as having about $200 and was primarily used to make change from ticket sales when the department put on performances.

"After we started this engagement, John Middleton Cox, Director of the Music and Performance Arts department, came forward and disclosed that his department has been maintaining and unauthorized cash fund," the report said. "This fund was not just a $200 cash box but instead was used to keep cash received that should have been deposited with the Town Treasurer and to make unauthorized disbursements. We discussed this matter with him and he knew this was not an allowable practice."

The Powers report also found that there was no accounting for cash collected from students for field trips, money collected from students for parties, tee shirts other small items; and for some of the advertisements in programs that had been paid for in cash.

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Patch file photo.

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