History
The current Highland Park High School was built in 1977 to accommodate the rising population in Highland Park due to the increased migration of people from the nearby surrounding city of Detroit, even though the population of the city itself had been decreasing. The previous high school building was closed in 1978 so the students could attend classes at the new building.
The high school had direct access to Highland Park Junior College (later Highland Park Community College), attracting students; Jack Martin, who later became the school district emergency manager, said that the community college "was harder to get into than Wayne State." During its prime, it had graduating classes of 300 students each. Students continued to enroll despite the move of Chrysler to the suburbs. Many African-American families sent their children to the school so they could get an education comparable to that of schools in suburbs without having to move to the suburbs. The school had a pool used to train swimmers for Michigan state championships.
The school began to decline in the 1990s. The student population decreased and academic programs and after school activities decreased. The community college closed in 1996. The school pool closed during that decade. In 2000 the school district began operating on a deficit. In a five-year period before 2012, enrollment plummeted, with 450 students in 2012.
When Martin visited the school he encountered many empty and unused classrooms and various kinds of damage and wear, including water damage, exposed concrete beams, missing and falling ceiling panels, and exposed wiring. Doors had knocked out glass panels and missing doorknobs. Some lockers had fire damage because students had set the lockers on fire. The school budget did not have sufficient finances to fix all of the damage.
As of 2012 the district continued to maintain the former Highland Park High School and was considering opening it to students for the 2012-2013 school year.
Read more about this topic: Highland Park Community High School
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