New York Times Article Calls NAHS $147M Pricetag a Sign of Faith in APS

Although the new North Atlanta High campus and facility is going down as the most expensive in Georgia's history at $147 million, the New York Times is calling the cost a "signal of faith in Atlanta Public Schools."

Since the median cost for a new high school in the South is about $38.5 million, the article states, NAHS "might as well be the Taj Mahal."

The school building was formerly the IBM campus and has 11 stories and 900-car parking deck.

Rep. Ed Lindsey, who represents Buckhead in the Georgia House of Representatives said the construction costs for the new high school should give any taxpayer pause.

However, others are saying that the high school and its amenities are helping create a model for an urban high school that will help dig the district out of "a historic crisis," as the school's new principal Howard Taylor called the APS cheating scandal.

From the article: 
"He (Taylor) and other educators say that the new school building is an opportunity to show that a large, urban public high school can be a viable alternative to the rising tide of charter schools, voucher systems and private education."

Additionally, North Atlanta High faced its own share of challenges last September when principal Mark MyGrant was fired, and other top school leaders were reassigned suddenly. The firing sparked protests from students and parents who wanted answers.

APS Superintendent Erroll Davis said the firing was due to the school's low graduation rate and its low academic performance of students, but MyGrant and others felt it was because two of his recent hires were anonymously accused of being racists, according to news reports.

Then there were grade-changing allegations in October.