In Dec. 7, 1917, the board meeting opened at 1:30 p.m. A motion carried that Mr. Holden, who had been authorized to draw a sketch of the proposed new high school building, be instructed to get elevations on plans. A motion carried that the chair and secretary present an application for loan at the earliest possible date to the state auditor from the recent bond passage. The board also approved the purchase of two 4x14 blankets for the school wagon and six soap stones.
On Dec. 10, there was a special board meeting, during which the board debated ways and means of procedure toward the new school building. A motion carried that Mr. G.A. Will would be retained as legal counsel for the school district.
At the regular meeting on Dec. 21, bills were paid for coal, lumber, blackboards, work on the school wagon, paint and janitor wages. That day, an article appeared in the Minneapolis Tribune entitled, "Judge to hear pleas against School Bonds," describing a petition for an injunction to restrain the two-months-old consolidated Mound school district from issuing $70,000 bonds voted recently. Judge Steele would hear pleas, asking that the new district be dissolved.
"Sentiment for a consolidation of Districts 83, 85, 87, 116, and 139 grew faster than the crops last summer. It was the one topic of conversation. Consolidation was voted this fall, directors elected, and then it was found that a larger building and more money was needed. The directors voted a $70,000 bond issue."
Let's put ourselves in the place of those grade school neighborhoods. For example, Lee School District #84 in 1870 bought 1.5 acres of land from the Mattbys for $5. Replacing the 1871 building, in 1894 a new one-room school building was built for $600. In 1900, after using the school site for 30 years, school officials finally dug a well, at the cost of $92. They hired one teacher, who taught students in grades 1-8 for eight months, in 1901 for $245. Then in 1915, they became excited about having a local high school, just like their neighbors in Wayzata and Excelsior. They voted to raise $70,000 to build a building with 10 classrooms, which would need 10 teachers and a principal and probably a secretary and would need furniture and equipment. They were offering to provide student transportation. Perhaps, this step was looking larger than it had before.
"By this time [Dec.21], the price of wheat had become the big subject of conversation. The bond issue looked big. Incidentally, it was argued, dangerous crossings existed, football teams would be possible in a consolidated school, and other factors loomed up as incentives to abandon the consolidated school project. "A hearing yesterday was the fifth the county board has granted to Mound school troubles in the last two months."
No date was given in the article for the Judge’s hearing on this topic. It most probably would not occur before the school break for the holidays.
However, we know that the high school was built, and did open in September 1917, with accolades, also in the Minneapolis Tribune, as a “wonder in every respect."
The article goes on to say that "an auditorium which will seat more than 1,000 persons. The pupils will be transported to and from the school in buses provided by the district. A complete high school course, including manual training, domestic science and agriculture will be offered."
