The school budget did not have sufficient finances to fix all of the damage. Some lockers had fire damage because students had set the lockers on fire. Doors had knocked out glass panels and missing doorknobs. 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. In a five-year period before 2012, enrollment plummeted, with 450 students in 2012. In 2000 the school district began operating on a deficit. The school pool closed during that decade. The student population decreased and academic programs and after school activities decreased. The school began to decline in the 1990s. The school had a pool used to train swimmers for Michigan state championships. 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. ![]() Students continued to enroll despite the move of Chrysler to the suburbs. The high school had direct access to Highland Park Junior College (later Highland Park Community College), attracting students Jack Martin, who later became the Detroit Public Schools 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. The previous high school building was closed in 1978 so the students could attend classes at the new building. ![]() In the 1970s Highland Park lost over 20% of its population. The final Highland Park High School was built in 1977 to better accommodate students than the old facility had.
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