The DeKalb County (Georgia) school board has approved a $148 million renovation and expansion plan for Cross Keys High School in Brookhaven.
WSB-TV reports that the money would pay for building a 140,000-square-foot addition, including a performing arts center, a new front entrance, refurbished classrooms and media center, pedestrian paths and a courtyard.
The board voted 6-1 in favor of the project. The school, built in the 1950s, has about 1,700 students.
Many people in the community say the school campus has been neglected for far too long.
“We know they have been overlooked, delayed, and promised, and now we are in a position where we can deliver on what we promised,” said Superintendent Devon Horton. “This is a community that has been shortchanged and marginalized for quite some time.”
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.
