DEKALB SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES $50 MILLION DHHS MODERNIZATION 

 

We received some terrific news at the May 31 Board Meeting! At long last, the DeKalb County School Board voted 7 to 0 to include DHHS in the 5-year local facility plan for modernization submitted to the State Board of Education to qualify for reimbursement. The estimated cost is $50MM with work starting in September when E-SPLOST VI funding and state reimbursements become available. Interim Superintendent Dr. Tinsley said a thorough assessment of the DHHS facilities will be conducted and include recommendations for modernization. The term "modernization" refers to making older buildings "like new" and could include renovation, tear downs, and rebuilds.  

 

Today is a huge step in the right direction for the future of DHHS.  It is up to all of us to make sure promises made are promises kept, as our teachers and students deserve so much better than the facility that they left just last week. The Board's May 31 vote is the first step in making a safer, better DHHS possible. The Red Devil Task Force will continue our work and advocacy to make sure the Board and the County follow through with a solid plan of action and execute that plan until we have a modernized DHHS.  

 

We are postponing our scheduled volunteer work days in June and moving them to July & August closer to school opening. This will allow for more of the immediate work outlined by the County to be completed including roof repair, water mitigation, sewer system analysis and room painting before our Red Devil volunteers arrive. Progress has already been made with repairs at DHHS. On May 31, the County completed a sewer line replacement by the outdoor senior picnic area made infamous in our student's video. Next year's DHHS seniors will have a much more enjoyable lunch period!!

 

Stay tuned to DHHSPTO.org for more information on how you can volunteer on the Red Devil Task Force to advocate for the best DHHS possible for our current and future students. Thank you for your support of the Red Devil Task Force!

 

Tamara Shipley,

Chair, Druid Hills High School Principal Advisory Council

 

Ken Schroeder

Chair, Druid Hills Cluster Alliance

The Red Devil Task Force was formed in late February as a result of the DCSD Board of Education removing DHHS from its Facility Priority List: 

• DHHS is a 90+-year-old campus composed of 7 buildings from various eras, from the 1920s to the 2000s

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• Our campus has the oldest educational facilities still in use in the DeKalb County School District (DCSD) system

• This Frankensteined-together approach has created a campus with multiple space, security, health, and safety issues that have been ignored over the years

• The DHHS campus requires a Remodel and Modernization to bring us at minimum to a standard of what DCSD has provided all other Dekalb high schools.

• DCSD contracted $2MM to global architecture and design firm Perkins & Will for an analysis of DCSD facilities and to create a 10-year Comprehensive Master Plan.

• View the Perkins & Will report here

• View the Comprehensive Master Plan here

• Perkins & Will estimated a DHHS Remodel & Modernization at $60MM among the priority list of County facility projects.

• On Feb. 25, 2022 the DCSD Board of Education voted 4 to 2 to remove DHHS from the facility priority list submitted to the State of Georgia (WATCH THE MEETING HERE, facility discussion starts at 12:00)

  • Voted to Remove DHHS from the Priority List: DaCosta, Hill, Pierce, Turner (Chair)​

  • Voted to Keep DHHS on the Priority List: Gevertz, Orson

  • Absent from Meeting: Morley

  • Non-voting Member: Superintendent Watson-Harris

• DHHS was THE ONLY project removed from the priority list by the DCSD Board of Education 

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• The Red Devil Task Force Kick-Off meeting on March 14, 2022 was attended by almost 70 concerned community members. 

  • Presentation Slides from the March 14, 2022 Red Devil Task Force meeting​

  • Chat questions Q&A document

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• You can watch the Board's discussion on this critical topic HERE

  • Facilities discussion starts around 0:47

  • Initial topic of DHHS Modernization begins around 0:56

  • Important option for potential additional funding to help DHHS modernization and other Cluster school priorities begins around 1:01

  • Region 2 Rep. Marshall Orson's advocacy for DHHS modernization begins at 1:05:59 and the resulting alternative plan read by Region 1 Rep. Anna Hill follows.  

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• The second Red Devil Task Force meeting on April 20, 2022 was attended by 100 concerned community members.

  • Presentation Slides from the April 20, 2022 Red Devil Task Force meeting

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• The third Red Devil Task Force meeting was attended by 67 concerned community members. 

  • Presentation Slides from the May 16, 2022 Red Devil Task Force meeting​

  • Chat document from May 16, 2022 meeting

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• The fourth Red Devil Task Force meeting on July 25, 2022 (postponed from the original June 26 date) was attended by 27 engaged participants.

• Presentation Slides from the July 25, 2022 Red Devil Task Force Meeting​​​

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While the adults were talking, brave DHHS students SPRANG into action and created this video: 

Their video was viewed more than 35,000 times in its first week online and continues to garner views and media attention!