DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The DeKalb County School Board voted Monday night to approve major renovations for an old high school.
Cross Keys High School was built off North Druid Hills Road in the 1950s, and many people in the community say it has been neglected for far too long.
The school is slated for a $148 million upgrade.
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The nondescript building currently has about 1,700 students.
“During COVID we saw a boom in materials, the cost of labor, plus everything costs more down the line,” DeKalb County Schools Superintendent Devon Horton said.
Channel 2′s Bryan Mims spoke with a neighbor and school volunteer who say they have seen signs of disrepair at the school.
“It’s not any specific thing. It’s just the whole building reeks of age,” neighbor Alex Kirk, who’s lived across the street from the school for 11 years, said. “It seems like it’s just one HVAC malfunction away from completely breaking down.”
The money would go to building a 140,000-sqaure-foot addition, including a performing arts center, a new front entrance, refurbished classrooms and media center, pedestrian paths and a courtyard.
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Of the $148,000,000 total, $99,000,000 is funded with an Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax approved by voters.
“We know they have been overlooked, delayed, and promised, and now we are in a position where we can deliver on what we promised,” Horton said. “This is a community that has been short-changed and marginalized for quite some time.”
“You know, it couldn’t be a better time. It definitely needs to be done,” Kirk said. “And if things were in a better place by the time [my 9-year-old daughter] makes it to high school, it couldn’t be easier; just walk across the street.”
Once construction begins, it is expected to take three or four years to complete, and students will continue coming to class while the work is in progress.
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