MassCEC awards $2.71 million to Wilkins Elementary for heat‑pump and energy upgrades

Stoughton Public Schools officials told the school committee that the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center has awarded a $2,709,820 grant to the district to fund energy upgrades at Wilkins Elementary School.

Superintendent Dr. Baeta and the district’s energy consultant, Kathy Stanley, said the grant will pay for installation of heat pumps, a heat‑pump water heater, electrical service upgrades and a building management system at Wilkins. The district said the work is intended to modernize the building’s heating‑and‑cooling infrastructure and improve building controls; district staff and the consultant will attend the MassCEC kickoff meeting with the director of facilities.

Committee members were told that the Gibbons and Dawe schools previously received HVAC upgrades paid from ESSER funding, and that those projects are complete. Officials said the Wilkins grant and other state or federal awards will reduce immediate capital needs and inform the district’s capital improvement planning. The superintendent said the next major capital concern across district buildings will be boilers, which will be addressed in the capital plan.

District staff also said the vendor selected for multiple upgrades across buildings is Trane; the district framed that selection as a multi‑year service relationship for HVAC and controls work. Officials described the building management systems as integrating advanced controls and remote monitoring; the district said the chosen vendor recently acquired an AI capability and the district expects the system will automate fault detection and reduce maintenance response time.

The superintendent said the upgrades are funded through a mix of state grant and prior federal/state programs and that the district intends to pursue additional grants for further school upgrades.