In 1873, the Ohio General Assembly passed an act “for the reorganization and maintenance of Common Schools.”  The law classified school districts by type including city school districts of the first class, city district of the second class and village districts, special districts and township districts.  In 1878, the law was revised to create a mechanism for the local residents to create a special school district.  A special school district was a school district that combined multiple township sub-school districts and could combine sub-school districts from more than one township.  The special school district would then have its own separate Board of Education and would no longer fall under the authority of the township Boards of Education.

Residents could petition the township Board of Education in the townships effected to create a special school district.  If the Board of Education failed to act on the petition within sixty days or refused to create the special school district, the residents could then file the petition in the Probate Court.  The Court would then appoint a commission of three disinterested persons.  The Commissioners would then meet with residents, call witnesses and study the issue.  They would then file a report with the Probate Court either in favor of the special school district or against it.  The Probate Judge would then rule on the petition based on the recommendations of the report.  In 1914, the Ohio legislature abolished the provisions allowing the creation of special school districts.