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More funding needed to modernize DeKalb County Druid Hills High School, officials say

By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Published  September 24, 2024 7:15am EDT
DeKalb County
FOX 5 Atlanta

Druid Hills High School renovation plans

Videos of plumbing and electrical issues at DeKalb County's Druid High School went viral two years ago, and now a $50 million renovation project is moving forward.

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - A $50 million renovation project to modernize DeKalb County's Druid Hills High School is moving forward, but officials are concerned that more funding may be needed.

Two years ago, frustrated students at the school, located on Haygood Drive near Emory University, posted an eight-minute video detailing what they say were years worth of problems.

Students used iPhones to document plaster falling off walls, water leaking in many areas and a ceiling hole so big a student is shown placing his entire hand through it. 

"Human waste tends to flow up from up it and flood this area right here which is known as our senior picnic area, and we eat outside here every day," then-senior Townes Purdy said on the video while pointing to a century-old water pipe. 

Druid Hills High School students say they're learning in unsafe conditions

School leaders plan to renovate the school, but students want things to happen quickly.

State Superintendent Richard Woods wrote a letter in response, saying he would not support other improvements to DeKalb County schools until facilities issues at Druid Hills were addressed.

A little more than a month after the video was posted, the DeKalb County Board of Education voted unanimously to restore the high school to the district's five-year facilities plan and allot $50 million for repairs.

In the years since then, district leaders say the unsafe conditions have been fixed, and they are looking forward to future remodeling.

On Monday night, board officials told the public that the full modernization will likely cost closer to $80 million.

"Before we can fully put together a full scope of what the project will look like - what we can do as close to the budget right now," DeKalb County Schools Superintendent Devon Horton said.

Horton said the age and location of the campus will be a challenge.

"Modernization of this campus is very challenging because it's almost a 100-year-old building," he said. "It's a really quaint and really cool community that deserves a high school as they choose."

Another SPLOST could help pay for the additional $30 million.

The district is going to be holding monthly public engagement meetings about the project. The next two are set for Oct. 21 and Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. at the high school.