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Clayton County’s school board is moving ahead with a $246 million plan to replace North Clayton High School with a massive facility that includes a golf course and indoor soccer fields.
“The community deserves this brand-new structure,” Jessie Goree, Clayton County Board of Education member, told FOX 5. “We’ve needed it for quite some time.”
The Clayton County School Board plans to demolish the existing North Clayton High School and construct a new, four-story, X-shaped complex in its place.
The estimated cost is $246 million, with more than $228 million earmarked for construction alone.
Goree, who represents the district the high school is in, said the funding will come from SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) dollars, not property taxes.
“The money will be coming strictly off of SPLOST dollars, not property tax dollars,” Goree said.
Construction plans are already in motion despite a recent permitting snag. The board’s goal is to complete the new campus by late 2026.
Goree acknowledged that the cost exceeded expectations.
“Now, the price is way above what we expected,” she said.” It’ll be a state-of-the-art school for our students. And we’re also going to have some indoor, practice facilities for our athletic teams. We will also have a three-hole golf course.”
The board also intends to introduce aviation mechanic training, taking advantage of the school’s proximity to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Goree described severe issues with the current school building, including HVAC failures and roof leaks.
“If you were to go in the North Clayton High School building now on a rainy day, you would find that there might be buckets in the hallway,” Goree said. “My sole purpose is to put children first. And I don’t care about the price tag.”
In addition to the new high school, the district will soon open a new middle school in Forest Park at the end of the month.
They plan for the high school to be completed by December 2026.
