The Lehighton Area School District is set to upgrade its security camera system across its campuses, thanks to a portion of a $143,573 Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency grant.

The district’s board will soon vote on whether to approve the grant and the proposed expenditures for the new system, which officials said will enhance the district’s security infrastructure.

Expansion of system

The district plans to use the grant to install new Verkada security cameras at the high school, middle school, and elementary center.

According to the official proposal from Harris Technology Services, the total project cost is $84,314.34. The work will cover the purchase and installation of cameras at the high school, middle school, and elementary school.

“We have moved to the Verkada platform, which just gives us much better access to what we would need in terms of security,” Gretchen Laviolette, Lehighton’s technology director, said Monday.

The installation project will complete the transition to Verkada’s system in the middle and high schools, while also introducing additional cameras at the elementary school.

“This would continue to outfit us with Verkada by completing the interior of the middle school and high school to be on the Verkada platform,” Laviolette said.

The cameras will be strategically placed to improve coverage and monitoring.

“We have two outside for the elementary center … to kind of capture the driveway coming in from Mahoning Street,” Laviolette said.

At the high school, HTS will install 17 Verkada cameras, including CD42, CD52, CD62, and CH52 models. HTS will also install one Verkada camera (C5) provided by the district. The cost for the high school portion of the project is $34,059.52 for equipment and $12,050 for services, including installation and project management.

For the middle school, the project will involve installing 12 Verkada cameras, including CD52 and CM42 models, at a cost of $17,623.44 for equipment and $7,400 for services.

The elementary school will receive two Verkada CH52 multi-sensor cameras and one CD42 indoor dome camera. The cost for the elementary school portion is $10,257.38 for equipment and $1,855 for services.

Shipping costs are listed at $1,069, bringing the total to $84,314.34.