Students at Tyner Academy High School walked out of the building to demand repairs and a new building on Wednesday.
About 100 members of the senior class held signs that read "fix our school" and chanted "We want a new school. When do we want it? Now."
They expressed that the building on Tyner Road, built in 1937, has become an eyesore.
READ MORE |Freshman academy on Tyner's Campus closes due to 'structural issues'
A building used to house freshmen was closed last week for maintenance due to roof failure causing those students to share other areas throughout the campus.
Students also made it clear that a consulting group scored the building at 57 and gave its grounds a 16 out of 100 percent in a facilities report for the county's schools.
“The county wants us to enhance our academic rigor. They want us to enhance our academic knowledge when the building around us is slowly falling apart,” Smith said.
Alumni also weighed in.
“It's heartbreaking. I need for my tax money to be going to my school, ” said Norlean Buggs, who graduated in 1987.
“Something major needs to be done. Not just like paint. Don’t just paint over it. You feel good. You do good. It’s all a mind thing," said Steven Bedford from the Class of 2015.
Here is a statement from Cody Patterson with Hamilton County Schools:
Hamilton County Schools has 7.5 million square feet of facility space with 51% of our buildings being rated in poor or average condition and the average age of our school buildings being 40 years. There are deferred maintenance needs at buildings like Tyner across the district with Tyner being one of the worst-rated buildings from the MGT facilities report. Tyner is a top priority for us to work through.
District 5 Commissioner Katherlyn Geter told Channel 3 she had toured the school recently and was aware of ongoing problems. She added she was in touch with School Board Member Karitsa Jones.
"I thank the students for their leadership. I applaud that. I think it takes courage to do what they did today," she said.
Geter added that a facilities meeting would need to be held and followed by a request for funds to be used for a new project in front of the commission.
It is unclear when that will happen.
