Lehighton Area School District accepted a proposal Monday night from CDW Government LLC for purchase and installation of a new high school auditorium sound system.

The $37,597.12 quote includes items such as a digital mixer, wall cabinet, microphones, speakers and other equipment needed for better sound delivery.

“CDW offered us the best bid for the work and we partner with them on a lot of our computer and software projects,” Lehighton Business Manager Ed Rarick said.

District officials believe the sound equipment currently in the high school auditorium was brought down from the middle school when the building opened in the early 1990s.

“This looks like a great price and if that much of an upgrade is needed that the original equipment was here in 1993, then we really need to do this,” director Jeremy Glaush said.

Lighting and soundboard issues in the high school auditorium were brought to the school board’s attention last winter by drama club adviser Laurel Zimmerman.

Rarick said several companies were approached for quotes to upgrade the lighting and audio in the auditorium. The plan, he said, was to use federal COVID-19 funding to pay for the work.

“The value of the quotes that came back pushed us into the threshold where we would have to bid the project,” Rarick said.

While the sound issues are being addressed, Lehighton is still working on a package to take care of lighting.

“We’re pretty close to a resolution on that,” Rarick said.

Glaush suggested the district look into a separate service contract for the newly acquired sound system. While certain components of the system come with a warranty, there is no service agreement attached to Monday’s contract.

“I’d hate to see it burn up on us and we have no way to fix it,” he said.