Cummings: ARPA could help pay for outdated Grafton Middle School HVAC

The Grafton Middle School HVAC system is older than most of the students’ parents: 57 years old.

Replacing the system has been part of the school system’s to-do list for years, but there has always been a more pressing matter. And the 11 units in the building, none interconnected, have struggled on, giving the building an ecosystem where students need their winter coats in one classroom and complain of being overheated in another.

“In all the schools that I’ve been in, there is not a school that needs an HVAC system more,” Superintendent of Schools Jay Cummings told the School Committee Tuesday.

Its day may come in the spring. A $2.24 million energy-efficient HVAC system — complete with air conditioning — may be paid for by a combination of ARPA funds, a Department of Energy Resources Green Communities Grant ($188,350), and anticipated state funding ($100,000).

Due to COVID-19, HVAC systems are on the priority list for ARPA funds, Cummings noted. The project would need about $1.9 million via Grafton’s ARPA allotment.

Cummings hopes the project can start in the spring, with the “heavy lifting” taken care of over the summer.

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