DeKalb County considering 3 new sites for Druid Hills High School

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Druid Hills High School (DeKalb County Schools)

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - DeKalb County school leaders have shared new details on a possible plan to relocate Druid Hills High School.

The relocation plan is one of three options the school district is considering to ensure that one of its oldest high schools is up to code. 

The backstory:

The school got a lot of attention two years ago when frustrated students posted an eight-minute video detailing what they said were years' worth of problems.

Students used their phones 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 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 in the video while pointing to a century-old water pipe. 

State Superintendent Richard Woods wrote a letter in response to the video, 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.

Dig deeper:

While repairs have been made, officials say more needs to be done to the school. In late 2024, district leaders presented three options for possible renovations or relocation.

Option one calls for bringing the campus fully up to code. That would cost at least $80 million, but there are concerns that the current property may be too small.

Option two would add more classrooms to house 400 more students. That'd cost $125 million.

The third and most expensive option would be a new campus at a different site. That'd be $200 million.

What's next:

At a meeting on Monday, the DeKalb County Board of Education agreed to pay for an architect to evaluate and create conceptual designs for three possible alternative sites for the high school.  

Officials say the three sites - identified as the Druid Hills Middle School, the current DeKalb Arts Academy and the current DeKalb School of the Arts - are already owned by the district. Each is less than 5 miles away from the school's current campus on Haygood Drive. A fourth site, Briarcliff High School, has been put on hold at this time.

While the decision to relocate has not been finalized, the approval of additional site plans allows the possibility of the option to move forward.

"We haven't made a commitment to any of it yet. We're just doing our due diligence to make sure we bring the best ask to the board," Superintendent Devon Horton said.

The additional architectural designs are expected to be done by the summer.