DEKALB COUNTY, Georgia. – A $50 million renovation project to modernize Druid Hills High School in DeKalb County is moving forward, but officials fear more funding may be needed.

Two years ago, frustrated students at the school on Haygood Drive near Emory University released an eight-minute video in which they said they described problems that had been going on for years.

Using their iPhones, the students documented how the plaster was peeling off the walls, water was leaking in many places, and there was a hole in the ceiling that was so big that one student stuck his whole hand through it.

“Human waste flows up from up there and floods this area here, which is known as our senior picnic area. This is where we eat outside every day,” then-senior Townes Purdy said in the video, pointing to a hundred-year-old water pipe.

State Superintendent of Schools Richard Woods then wrote a letter saying he would not support any further improvements to DeKalb County schools until the equipment problems at Druid Hills were resolved.

Just over a month after the video was released, the DeKalb County School Board voted unanimously to add the high school back into the district's five-year plan and allocate $50 million for repairs.

In the years that followed, safety concerns were addressed, district leaders say, and they look forward to future renovations.

On Monday evening, board officials informed the public that the complete modernization is expected to cost around $80 million.

“Before we can get a comprehensive view of what the project will look like – what we can do within the budget,” said Devon Horton, superintendent of DeKalb County Schools.

Horton said the age and location of the campus would pose a challenge.

“Modernizing this campus is a big challenge because it's a nearly 100-year-old building,” he said. “It's a really quaint and really cool community that deserves the high school that it chooses.”

Another SPLOST could help raise the additional $30 million.

The district will hold monthly public meetings about the project, with the next two scheduled for October 21 and November 18 at 6 p.m. at the high school.