Students and teachers from South Oak Cliff High School in Dallas have been relocated to a temporary campus so that their nearly 70-year-old campus can be renovated.
CBSDFW.com reports the upgrade is the first major renovation to the school in decades and comes nearly two years since students staged a walkout to protest conditions in the building.
Parents and alumni lobbied hard for the Dallas school district to fix the problems. There have been complaints about asbestos, contaminated drinking water, termites and natural gas and water leaks.
The district is spending $52 million from a 2015 bond issue to carry out a gut renovation of South Oak Cliff High. A large portion of the money will be used to install a new roof, repair plumbing and HVAC issues, expand the gym and cafeteria and provide better parking.
The move to the new site began last week. Community members helped teachers pack up their classrooms and relocate to the nearby Village Fair campus. South Oak Cliff students will attend classes at the alternative school site for the next year and a half.
Renovations at South Oak Cliff High are expected to get underway in a few weeks and are scheduled to be complete in August 2019, in time for the start of the 2019-2020 school year.
