With prior success saving money on its middle school renovations, Lehighton Area School District is again applying for a low-interest Qualified Zone Academy Bond, this time for work at the high school.

Lehighton's business manager, Brian Feick, said Monday night the district would be applying for $17.2 million with the hopes of getting at least half of its request."It's a competitive process," Feick said. "There is about $40 million available and there will be at least seven or eight districts applying."The federal QZAB program allows qualifying districts to receive the low-interest bonds for energy, renovation, technology and Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) projects.Lehighton received almost $8.5 million in September 2014 for renovations to the middle school, but at the time it was not eligible to apply for high school funding because not enough students in the building received free or reduced lunch."We previously fell below the 35 percent threshold at the high school, but we're at 35.72 percent now," Feick said.Between the two schools, Lehighton is spending almost $26 million on renovations including heating, ventilation and air-conditioning upgrades at both buildings."For the STEM portion of the application, we're looking at some new initiatives like a horticulture lab and hydroponics in addition to an extension of our current activities," Feick said.Lehighton has until Aug. 15 to apply for the QZAB and Feick expects the recipients to be announced in early September.