DeKalb Residents: No Marine High School
School Would Be Project Between Marines, DeKalb County

POSTED: 9:14 am EDT April 15, 2009
UPDATED: 9:29 am EDT April 15, 2009

DECATUR, Ga. -- Some DeKalb County residents won’t put out the welcome mat for a proposed military high school.

The school, which would be a joint project between the Marines and DeKalb County, would be located temporarily on Heritage Drive, where an elementary school now stands. The school would move to a permanent location for its second year.

More than 200 people showed up Tuesday night at a public meeting about the proposed school. Most of them said they weren’t consulted about the project.

“I cannot see for the life of me how this is a good location for a

Marine Corps academy,” one man said.


“I want to thank you very much for thinking outside the box. On the other hand, I do think this is the wrong place for the school,” a woman said.

Neighbors surrounding the school said there is simply too much traffic on the narrow street already. An ROTC teacher said he thinks the school will be good for the area.

But opponents brought signs that read “right school, wrong location.”

After the meeting, a fight nearly broke out. A DeKalb County sheriff’s deputy had to separate two men with opposing views about the school.

The DeKalb school superintendent will make his recommendation to the board next month.

Ellie