School committee refers Brightly rollout back to facilities subcommittee after questions about overtime and procurement

The committee discussed Brightly, the district’s asset‑management software implementation (previously SchoolDude), after administrators presented a capital‑forecast and a breakdown of in‑house hours spent implementing the system.

Chief Operating Officer Ken Pacheco said the district has an expanded, more robust Brightly implementation and that some implementation tasks were performed in‑house. Committee members pressed for clearer procurement documentation and asked for a visual demonstration of the system at a subcommittee meeting.

A technology employee’s overtime records were highlighted during the discussion and figures in backup materials were read into the record: committee members cited continuation contract overtime amounts totaling approximately $44,000 across two line items and flagged an individual overtime total for the Brightly project reported to be about $42,000. Committee members questioned whether project‑related overtime should have been pre‑approved and urged clearer controls and policy compliance for project‑based overtime.

After discussion, the committee voted to refer the Brightly item back to the Facilities and Operations subcommittee for a detailed demonstration of the system and review of vendor‑sourced procurement materials and overtime records. Members requested staff produce overtime slips, procurement documentation (bids/RFPs), and a clearer accounting of work‑order outcomes before returning to the full committee.