SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield School Committee unanimously approved a $5 million state grant to upgrade heating, ventilation and cooling systems at Glickman Elementary School.
The vote, which occurred during the committee’s Sept. 4 regular meeting, comes several weeks after the city first announced it was receiving the grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s Green School Works program.
“We know that it’s important to create an environment that is conducive to teaching and learning,” said Superintendent Sonia Dinnall, when talking about the money. “We want to make sure that all of our schools have air conditioning as well as clean air to breathe and learn in.”
Glickman was one of 18 Massachusetts schools to receive money for upgrades from MassCEC.
The organization awarded a total of $52 million through its Green School Works program, which “aims to make K–12 public school buildings more energy-efficient, lower costs for school districts, reduce pollution and create safer and healthier learning environments for students and educators.”
The program was funded by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, according to MassCEC.
Parks, Buildings and Recreation Management Director Thomas Ashe told Reminder Publishing in June that the city would ideally want to complete the HVAC upgrades at Glickman during summer vacation following the 2025-26 school year, but he said that depends on critical infrastructure changes and long lead items.
“We will know following initial design what critical infrastructure will need to change and what our lead times will be on items such as switchgear and HVAC equipment,” Ashe said. “Long lead items might push this timeline out; however, we will carefully monitor the grant schedule to ensure that we comply.”
Last year, Glickman received Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding to replace windows and doors and install a new playground, according to the mayor’s office. The city said 11 schools have had existing original HVAC infrastructure removed and replaced with a modern code compliant system that produces both heat and AC.
The new equipment installed meets all of today’s modern standards for ventilation in school buildings, according to the city.
At the School Committee meeting, Springfield Public Schools Chief Financial and Operations Officer Patrick Roach said the Glickman project is part of the School Department’s “aggressive campaign” to get air conditioning in all of the schools as soon as possible.
He shared that the department just finished installing air conditioning in 10 schools using one-time Elementary and Secondary School Emergency relief funds, and they are currently looking to secure funding for 12 more schools.
Ashe, meanwhile, noted how Springfield has several applications under review with the Massachusetts School Building Authority for more funding.
“We should, in the next couple years, have AC in every school,” Roach said.
The vote passed with little discussion. School Committee member LaTonia Monroe Naylor commended Roach’s team for their work on securing the money and suggested that a list be provided to the School Committee about which schools have had AC installed so far.
According to the grant announcement, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center is a state economic development agency dedicated to accelerating the growth of the clean energy and climatetech sector across the state to spur job creation, deliver statewide environmental benefits and secure long-term economic opportunities for the people of Massachusetts. Since 2010, MassCEC has awarded nearly $800 million in programs and investments and attracted more than $2.8 billion in private and public funds.
