226 Charles Abner Howard the voters might vote to establish an additional county high school at a later date if a new community should grow up, but this has not been done. In at least one county, the county high school board has kept the new communities satisfied by appropriating money from funds raised for the county high school, to assist in financing small local high schools. While this proceeding is not legal, it is at least expedient and has been carried on for a dozen years without being challenged. 45 Some years after the establishment of a county high school at Enterprise in Wallowa County, the towns of Joseph, Wallowa and Lostine desired to organize high schools of their own and appealed to the county high high school board for financial assistance. The board re- fused to grant the request and arrangements were carried out to resubmit the county high school question to the voters of the county. As a result of the election, the county high school was voted out of existence. This pro- ceeding was of doubtful legality but was not taken into the courts for settlement. Sooner or later, each of these counties is sure to develop such a situation as is here set forth. A legal procedure should be adopted whereby a county with a county high school may either establish additional schools or divide itself into a number of union high school districts as the population increases. With the enactment of the law in 1901 providing for the organization of District and County High Schools, most of the opposition to this branch of the public school system seemed to vanish. The press as well as the people generally assumed a favorable attitude toward the organ- ization of high schools even in small communities. 46 There were three causes for this change of attitude. First was 45 In 1921 the legislature revised the law so that the county high school board is required to give financial assistance to district or union high schools in the county other than the county high school, provided such schools have been standardized by the state superintendent. (Laws 1921, Chap. 302.) 46 Sixteenth Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruc- tion of Oregon. 1905. p. 225.
