Stoughton Celebrates Green School Works Project
FEATURE POST SERIES: From the Budget to the District
SEPTEMBER 29, 2026
Recently, Senator William J. Driscoll, Jr. (D-Milton) visited the Richard L. Wilkins Elementary School in Stoughton to learn more about the energy efficiency upgrade project underway, thanks to a $2.7 million Green School Works grant.
This investment is bringing new air source heat pumps, upgrades to electrical infrastructure, a heat pump water heater, and a modern building management system to Stoughton's Wilkins school.
These improvements will create a healthier, more comfortable learning environment for students and staff while reducing energy costs and emissions. Projects like this demonstrate how strategic investments in Commonwealth public schools can benefit students, our communities and the environment.
The upgrades will help reduce long-term operating costs and allow taxpayer dollars to be used more effectively, all while supporting the Commonwealth's clean energy goals.
Of note, this investment was made possible through Fair Share funding, made possible via a surtax voters approved several years ago to support education and transportation priorities.
The Legislature created the Green School Works program and seeded it with Fair Share funds, recognizing that many school districts need assistance making critical energy improvements.
Every student deserves to learn in a building that is healthy, safe, and prepared for the future, regardless of a community's resources.
Driscoll appreciates the leadership of the Town of Stoughton, Stoughton Public Schools, MassCEC, and the Green School Works team for their commitment to building a more sustainable future for students and educators.
About Green School Works:
The Green School Works program was created as part of the state's 2024 Fiscal Year budget and uses revenue established by the Fair Share Amendment to provide financial support to public K-12 schools or districts to install or maintain clean energy infrastructure.
Funding is allocated to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (“DESE”) in consultation with MassCEC, and DESE contracts with MassCEC to administer the Program on its behalf.
The goals of the Green School Works program, as stated in the enabling legislation, are to:
“provide financial support to eligible public K-12 schools or districts for projects to install or maintain clean energy infrastructure;”
“address the costs of installation, operation or upgrades of clean energy infrastructure that improves energy efficiency, reduces carbon emissions or mitigates impacts of climate change, including school rooftop construction or repair costs necessary for a clean energy infrastructure project to be safely installed;” and
accelerate the adoption of energy efficiency and decarbonization measures by “schools serving low-income and environmental justice populations.”
Additional goals, based on stakeholder feedback and decarbonization goals for schools across the Commonwealth, are to:
Serve as a source of gap funding for technical assistance and implementation of electrification and/or decarbonization projects;
Leverage other sources of school decarbonization funding to the greatest extent possible and seed innovative financing approaches;
Enable Massachusetts to take advantage of existing federal clean energy tax incentives;
Provide building-specific assessments and plans, as well as high-level, district-wide decarbonization planning; and
Support districts in meeting 2050 and interim emissions targets.
About the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center:
Massachusetts Clean Energy Center is a state economic development agency dedicated to accelerating the growth of the clean energy and climatetech sector across the Commonwealth 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.
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