Report: School Music Director Kept Cash In Unauthorized Account

BURLINGTON, MA - Burlington High School Music Director John Middleton Cox maintained an unauthorized account where he kept at least $14,000 in mostly undocumented revenue that should have been deposited with the town treasurer, according to a review of the music revolving account that was presented to the school committee last week. Instead, Cox kept the money in a separate safe that he and a secretary had access to, and no records were maintained to show where the cash came from or where it was spent. According to the report by Town Auditor Jim Powers, Cox told them that the money was used to reimburse himself and others for "various expenses."

The report says Powers was provided "limited documentation" covering $6,000 of the $14,000 he said he spent. Cox did not report the $14,000 to outside auditors last fall; it was only when the school committee ordered a more through review of the music revolving account that he came forward.

"Since both [Cox and the secretary] had access and no records were maintained, cash could have been added or removed by one person and the other person would not be aware of this," the report said. "It is possible that additional revenue received in cash and paid out in cash may have occurred that we are not aware of."

Cox and Burlington Public Schools Superintendent Eric Conti were not immediately available for comment Monday morning. The school committee did not address these findings when the report was presented to the school committee on Feb. 27, and Powers never mentioned Cox by name.

Chairman Thomas Murphy Jr. indicated that because the committee had only received the full report a few hours before the meeting, they were not prepared to ask specific questions. After the Power presentation, Murphy and other committee members said the blame should fall on the elected board and signaled they would move forward and take no further action on the review.

"Clearly the blame lies up here, and the responsibility for the cure lies up here as well," Murphy said. "I just want it to be out there that we have new policies and procedures in place.....it doesn't excuse what has happened in the past, but I think we're righting the ship."

But the complete audit raises significant questions that the committee may feel pressure to address. 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.

At last week's meeting, the school committee approved to reclassify nearly $32,000 in expenses in the music revolving account to the building and grounds account to comply with the recommendation by Powers to accurately account for spending and close the deficit in the performing arts account. Under state law, revolving accounts cannot carry deficits.

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