A school district in Lackawanna County aims to measure the sound from its current surroundings before any data centers built nearby turn up the volume on noise.

The Mid Valley School District of Throop, Olyphant and Dickson City requested proposals from acoustical engineering or consulting firms to do a “Baseline Environmental Sound/Noise Level Study” of the school complex on Underwood Road in Throop, according to a public notice in Saturday’s edition of The Times-Tribune.

The initiative comes in response to the proliferation of data centers and related power plant proposals in the region, which has included an onslaught in the Midvalley and Upvalley communities in Lackawanna County.

With large footprints, data centers and power plants would not only change their immediate landscapes, but also possibly the soundscapes of their neighboring surroundings. Their potential impact on ambient sound has played a key role in the larger debate over data centers and amid growing opposition to them, particularly regarding backup generators and cooling equipment.

Amid this backdrop, the Mid Valley School Board a few months ago started talking about doing a study of ambient sound at the K-12 campus at 52 Underwood Road containing the Mid Valley Elementary Center, the Mid Valley Secondary Center and related athletic, recreational and support facilities serving approximately 2,000 students and 200 staff members.

The goal is to establish a baseline level of sound and noise as it currently exists, before any data centers are up-and-running, to establish a potential reference point to gauge possible changes or differences in sound and noise in the future. To that end, the school board in August approved issuing a “request for proposals,” also called an RFP, from firms interested in doing such a study. That district posted the 11-page RFP on the district website on Thursday.

“Several parents and community members had sent messages to school directors (about the matter) and with borough council meetings being highly attended and covered, we are fully aware this issue is at the forefront for us,” district Superintendent Patrick Sheehan said Monday. “We discussed doing anything we can with what’s in our control to protect people, understanding that we do not have the final say (over whether data centers or power plants get built or where). Ultimately, we have an obligation to do what we can for safety of staff and students and that’s what this comes down to.”

Submissions to the RFP are due Oct. 5. The school board could accept or reject any proposal. Other details include:

• The study would establish existing ambient environmental sound conditions at and/or adjacent to campus, prior to proposed construction and development of surrounding areas; and to establish representative baseline sound levels and identify existing noise sources and conditions that may be relevant to current or future district activities.

• One or more third parties have proposed the development and construction of data center facilities in the vicinity of the campus and surrounding residential community. Such data center facilities can be significant, long-duration sources of environmental noise, including continuous mechanical noise from cooling systems, chillers, fans and emergency generators, and may produce low-frequency and tonal noise that is perceptible at nearby noise-sensitive receptors such as schools and homes; and both the construction phase and long-term operation of such facilities have the potential to affect the acoustic environment of the campus and the surrounding community.

• “The purpose of this study is to document existing, pre-construction ambient noise conditions so that the District and the community have an objective, defensible baseline. The District intends to use the resulting baseline to evaluate the anticipated and actual noise impacts of the proposed data center development, to inform its participation in any land use, zoning, permitting, or public review proceedings, and to support future monitoring and, if warranted, mitigation,” the RFP states.

Eva Rappenglueck, a co-organizer of the grassroots civic group Stop Olyphant Data Centers, said her organization was glad to see earlier this summer that the Mid Valley School Board was discussing doing an ambient sound study as a proactive step and now is following through with it. She wishes more local governmental organizations also would undertake such studies.

“We’re just so thankful that they’re doing it. We do really appreciate that the district is stepping up to do it,” Rappenglueck said.