The fate of Brookfield Schools Superintendent Tony Bivona’s career as the district’s educational leader for the last seven years is expected to be decided tonight.
The Board of Education, acting as a hearing panel in Bivona’s termination process, will meet at 6 p.m. to begin deliberations after more than 35 hours of testimony, stacks of documents and numerous motions related to whether or not the board should terminate Bivona’s contract that does not now expire until June 2016.
The 62-year-old educator has been on administrative leave since May. The board at that time voted to begin the termination process based on financial mismanagement of the district.
Bivona’s defense throughout the hearing process has been that he was never informed by his former business manager Art Colley, who resigned amid audit revelations of some $1.2 million of overspending and unauthorized use of the town’s fund balance to cover those expenses, that he was not following the proper accounting protocols required by state law. He also was unaware that Colley had routinely pushed extra expenses incurred in one year into the subsequent budget year, a practice that violates both state law and the town charter. Bivona testified that he did review the budget, and ordered spending freezes when certain line items seemed to be exceeding budget expectations, but as he is not an accountant was not qualified to manage each particular account. He entrusted his business manager to do that job, and until the auditors came forward with their findings was unaware he was not following the proper procedures and had not informed him that there were problems meeting district expenses.
Throughout the hearings, Bivona’s legal team did emphasize time and again that nothing in the auditors’ reports suggested any financial malfeasance. No money was stolen, and no money was spent on other than legitimate educational expenses.
Prior to his suspension, Bivona filed a Freedom of Information complaint against the board alleging they held an illegal meeting to discuss the possibility of terminating his contract.
A hearing was held before the commission on Oct. 1. No decision has yet been reached.
The board’s deliberations will be held in public at the Brookfield High School library.