Doug Stanglin

USATODAY

Officials at a Georgia high school have moved their school prom next month from Stone Mountain Park, the birthplace of the modern Ku Klux Klan, to another location because of concerns from parents over a "pro-white rally" scheduled the same day at the site.

Stone Mountain, which was purchased by the state of Georgia in 1958, features a carving of Confederate notables and has been the site of protests for and against the Confederate flag. .

The "Rock Stone Mountain" event, according to its Facebook page, is set to begin at a 11 a.m. on April 23 and is billed as “an openly pro white march up Stone Mountain that climaxes in a rally at the top." It will be followed by a pro white concert at a separate location that evening.”

"The attempt at racial genocide against our White race is very real, and Rock Stone Mountain is a clarion call from the mountaintop to rally against those that seek our destruction!" Rock Stone Mountain says in a "mission statement" on its Facebook page.

In previous postings, the group has stressed that it is a not a racist or KKK-linked organization, but instead promotes "white pride" as others ethnic groups promote their heritage.

Plans announced last year to erect a monument to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on top of Stone Mountain stirred opposition from civil rights groups as well as The Sons of Confederate Veterans.

While the rally was scheduled to end hours before the prom, which was to be held at a resort in the park, officials at Peachtree Ridge High School, in Suwanee, Ga., decided to move it to a hotel in Atlanta.

In a letter to parents, principal Jeff Mathews said school leaders "listened and understood the concerns raised by parents and community members and continued to look for alternative options."

There are around 1,500 juniors and seniors at the school, which has black, white, Asian and Latino students, Bernard Watson, director of Community relations with Gwinnett County schools, tells USA TODAY.

Watson tells USA TODAY that the students were "excited and happy" about the change to an alternate site and now can "get back to focus on the prom."