 Further growth in Kent during the 1950s spurred discussion of a new high school with a larger campus offering more room for future expansion . In 1955 , district voters approved a $ 1 @.@ 5 million bond issue ( approximately $ 13 million present @-@ day ) followed by a $ 650 @,@ 000 bond issue ( about $ 5 million present @-@ day ) in 1957 to fund a new high school , new elementary school , and renovation of the old high school to become a junior high school . Also in 1957 , the school board purchased several acres of farmland along North Mantua Street as the site for the new high school campus . Although some viewed the site as too remote , construction began in 1958 and the building was opened September 8 , 1959 housing 550 students in grades 10 – 12 . Enrollment increases throughout the 1960s and 1970s would necessitate several additions and by 1968 , the graduating class numbered 238 students . Also in 1959 , the Franklin Township and Brady Lake districts merged with the Kent City School District , bringing additional students to Roosevelt . Prior to that time some students from Franklin Township and Brady Lake , neither of which had an accredited high school , attended Roosevelt as tuition @-@ paying students to complete their high school diploma , while others finished at Kent State High School . The state of Ohio had previously paid tuition for rural schools without accredited high schools , but discontinued doing so in the late 1950s . 
