After the State Legislators Act of 1866, the Kansas City, Missouri School Board was created. The first School Board members were President W.E. Sheffield, Secretary H.C. Kump, Treasurer J.O. Bachman and members Ed H. Allen, T.B. Lester and E.H. Spalding. Mr. Kump retired almost immediately and was replaced by A. A. Bainbridge on August 1, 1867. By October of 1867, schools were opened in rental buildings in three areas of the city, which were called wards.
There were 2,150 school-age children in the city at this time. There are no records of this first year of "free public schools" in Kansas City because the first superintendent didn’t present a "report" to the board. The first year was one of confusion, hard work and dedication to the goal of establishing free public schools.
The School Board worked to buy land for future buildings, hire teachers and prepare for the "first" bond election, which passed. Bond elections continued to pass until 1969. Within one year, the number of school age students went from 2,150 to 3,287, a gain of 50 percent. Mr. Spading left the board and was replaced by Mr. Patrick Shannon.
Among the first four schools to open in April 1868 was Washington School in Ward I, which was located at the southwest corner of Independence Avenue and Cherry Street. The school was enlarged in 1869 and had an enrollment of 500 students. In November 1868, Humbolt School in Ward II opened with six rooms. It was located on the northwest corner of 12th and Locust Streets. A branch of the school was established at 11th and Locust. This branch had nine rooms, with 540 students or about 50 to 60 students per classroom. Since the "old" Central School sat on the southeast corner of 11th and Locust, it is possible that Humbolt’s Branch was either on Central’s grounds or actually in the main building. Central School opened in 1869 and was enlarged in 1875. It had nine rooms with an enrollment of 400 students.
Franklin School in Ward III was located on the northeast corner of 14th and Washington. It opened in October 1868 with seven rooms and had room for 420 pupils, with 60 primary students per room. Lincoln Elementary School opened in 1869 and was located at 9th and Charlotte Streets. This school moved to 11th and Campbell in 1878 with an enrollment of 400 students. Lincoln High School was built in 1889 right behind the Elementary School.