DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Some local high school students used their voices to get some much-needed repairs done to their school which was built nearly 100 years ago.
Almost a year ago, they made a video of what they were dealing with at Druid Hills High School and after it went viral they got school officials to take action.
Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes got an exclusive tour of what the school looks like now that renovations have been done.
“They deserve to have a building they feel comfortable in everyday
Dr. Vasanne Tinsley heard students loud and clear and as soon as she was named interim superintendent of DeKalb County Schools, she put several schools on a priority list to get repairs done.
Druid Hills High got work done first.
“We have been here sometimes late at night, early in the morning, making sure we were in here and when it was time for students to come back the first day of school last year, they came back to what was basically a brand-new building,” Tinsley said.
Fernandes asked Tinsley if she could go into the school and get an exclusive look.
Tinsley took her into the newly renovated computer lab. It used to have a sign saying, “don’t touch the pole” because students would get shocked if they did.
RELATED STORIES:
- Druid Hills High School is getting a $50M makeover
- State Board of Education takes DeKalb to task for poor condition of Druid Hills High School
- Students make video of deteriorating conditions at DeKalb high school including mold, sewage
Administrators fixed an electrical problem and now a new sign tells students not to unplug the computers.
“If you step on the ground, you see water, come up and out,” a student said on the now-infamous video showing where water would leak out of the flood in the school’s weight room.
Contractors have now sealed the area by drilling holes in the wall and filled it up with a substance that prevents moisture from coming into the room and ruining the floor.
The ceilings and walls have been restored and look brand new.
“When it rains real hard, we have a plumbing problem, human waste tends to flow up,” another student said on the video, showing how sewage would back up in an outside eating area.
Workers got rid of a nearby tree which stopped the sewage backups. They also put new piping in the ground and restored the entire area.
“Student voice is important and that’s what we tell them. Use your voice. Your voice is powerful and in this instance, it brought change,” Tinsley said.
After the video was released, several other schools said they need repairs too. Some of those schools are also getting needed repairs -- and others are on a list to be done next.
RELATED NEWS:
This browser does not support the video element.