The state of Texas granted a charter for an independent school district to encompass the Texas A&M College campus in 1909. Because there was not a sufficient number of students in the district to support a school, A&M president William Bizzell and professor Martin Hayes, head of the department of vocational teaching, persuaded the leaders of three surrounding common school districts to send their students to a new school to be located on the college campus. The new school opened in 1920 with 304 students. It was supported by A&M college with funding for buildings, teacher salaries, furniture, and equipment. It became a model for rural schools in the area, and by 1928 the surrounding school districts officially dissolved and merged with A&M College Consolidated Independent School District. By 1938 the school facilities had become overcrowded. Because the college was not able to increase its contributions to the institution, the school moved off of the A&M campus in 1940. With the move came the genesis of the College Station Independent School District.