The Taunton Public Schools Finance and Law Subcommittee on an unspecified date heard that the district is switching its maintenance tracking from FacilityDude to a city-managed system called Master Library, a change that will limit the district’s ability to produce side-by-side comparisons of school and city work orders.

Superintendent Monahan, Taunton Public Schools, told the committee the district is “now switching over from FacilityDude to what is new, a new software system called Master Library,” and that “the functions of Master Library is not similar to what we usually do with FacilityDude,” meaning reports will look different going forward.

Why it matters: committee members said the change affects the district’s ability to monitor how many city building‑department work orders are attributable to the schools — a metric tied to the 75% net school spending discussion. Committee members noted the city’s internal figures show the city currently attributes about 76% of relevant building‑department work orders to the school department.

Committee discussion focused on three practical concerns. First, whether the district can still calculate the percentage of city work orders that are for schools: staff said the school department will only see the work orders it enters and that comparative city/school reporting will be limited unless the city supplies that view. Second, members asked how the district will ensure timely completion of city-handled work orders; staff said city personnel (including Mark Freitas) will continue to monitor and escalate issues with custodians as needed. Third, committee members asked about the effect on ADA tracking: staff said the previous ADA master report has been closed out with the city and that going forward the district will provide ADA information for new construction projects and will coordinate with city contacts (Donna DeCorpo) when ongoing ADA issues arise.

Committee members asked the superintendent to continue monthly work-order updates, noting the new reporting will be narrower in scope. One member said the district will pursue internal discussions with city officials to ensure the district continues to receive an appropriate share of building-department resources.

The committee took no separate policy vote on the software change; the facilities update report was received and placed on file by voice vote.