The interim superintendent of Fall River Public Schools said she hired Aldo Petronio, the embattled former chief financial officer for Brockton Public Schools, because she's confident in his abilities after their years of close collaboration while she was Brockton's superintendent.

 

Kathleen Smith said she has direct knowledge of his expertise and stellar reputation among school finance officials. Her experience with him outweighed that he led Brockton Public Schools' finance office at the time of the 2023 budget crisis, she said.

 

“In the end, to me, that trumped what had happened," she told The Enterprise in a July 7 phone interview.

 

Since November 2025, Petronio has been embroiled in a federal lawsuit against the city of Brockton, school district and multiple officials, including former Brockton Mayor Robert Sullivan. Petronio said he warned Sullivan and other officials of the mounting deficit long before it became public in August of 2023 and proposed solutions that were ignored by the same people who later blamed him for not having taken action. Defendants have pointed out that multiple audits, including one by a state agency, named Petronio as one of the people responsible for the surprise shortfall.

 

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