Two new reports allege that Mayor Robert Sullivan could have known about the budget deficit months earlier than he's said in the past.

The move comes in the aftermath of a damning audit over the deficit scandal and in the wake of the superintendent's resignation.

Independent investigators who looked into the budget crisis recommended the School Committee chair be someone other than mayor, but the position is written in the city’s charter.

Brockton's mayor said he didn't know about the school department's deficit until August. A new audit conflicts with those statements.

Hours ahead of a special School Committee meeting, Brockton Mayor Robert F. Sullivan announced he would release the details of an independent report.