City of Worcester, MA

WORCESTER, Mass. – The City of Worcester announced Wednesday that City View Discovery School has been awarded a $2,730,000 grant through the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center's (MassCEC) Green School Works program – the largest energy-efficiency grant the municipality has ever received for a single school facility.

MassCEC awarded $19 million in grants to upgrade public school facilities through the second round of the Green School Works program. Funded by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), the program aims to make K–12 public school buildings more modern and energy-efficient, lower school district costs, reduce pollution, and create safer, healthier learning environments for students and educators.

Worcester's award, a partnership between Worcester Public Schools and the Department of Sustainability and Resilience, will fund a phased decarbonization project at City View Discovery School, a Pre-K through sixth grade school. The project will replace aging, original 1991 heating equipment with a modern, high-efficiency electric air-water heat pump system, paired with building upgrades that improve insulation and airflow. Existing gas boilers will remain in place as backup for extreme winter conditions. Construction and upgrades are expected to be completed by the end of 2027.

“This project will make a real difference for the students, teachers, and staff at City View Discovery School — giving them a healthier, more comfortable place to learn and work every day," said City Manager Eric D. Batista. “This is the first project of its kind for Worcester and serves as an example of how we can modernize our schools with the right support. We're going to use what we learn here to explore similar upgrades at other schools across the city as part of our broader commitment to the Green Worcester Plan and to healthy, equitable schools for every student in the city.”

“We are grateful for the substantial and continuous support of our local and state partners to provide this energy efficiency upgrade at City View Discovery School,” said Brian E. Allen, Superintendent of Worcester Public Schools. “This project helps meet our district’s strategic plan priority of modernized and safe facilities to benefit our students and staff.”

Together, these upgrades are expected to significantly improve indoor air quality, thermal comfort, and system reliability for students, staff, and community members who use the building after hours. Indoor air quality and comfort are directly tied to student health, attendance, and learning outcomes — particularly at City View, a high-need environmental justice community school where roughly 10.3% of students require asthma-related supports, compared to a state average of 8.9%. The improvements are also expected to reduce classroom disruptions while making the building more usable for community programming.

The project will also strengthen the school's resilience by reducing its dependence on a single fossil fuel system and replacing mechanical infrastructure that is beyond its useful life — lowering the risk of system failure during peak heating periods and helping the building maintain safe, functional conditions during extreme weather.

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