[3] The school district is named after Julius Sterling Morton, Grover Cleveland's Secretary of Agriculture during his second term, who is best known for founding Arbor Day.

[4] The district and its schools are named after Morton because he was friends with Cicero resident and fur trader Portus Baxter Weare.

[11] By 1931, Morton had reached its capacity of 3,000 students, and a bond issue was put before the electorate to raise funds for a new school to be built in neighboring Berwyn.

In October 1932, the school's football coach was fired without warning, prompting 800 citizens to attend a board meeting to retain him.

The coach was reputedly fired for being critical of the board for discounting tax warrants with which teachers had been paid over the past months in lieu of money.

[17] This was immediately followed by the North Central Association's assertion that, despite teachers receiving no cash salary for almost a year, and being forced to sell the tax warrants they had been receiving for substantial discounts, the board had hired unnecessary custodial staff, cafeteria workers, and largely under-qualified teachers without consulting the superintendent.

[23] On December 12, the secretary of the North Central Association read a letter at the public meeting of the board stating "The standards of the school are very shaky.".

[25] This prompted the Berwyn Ministers' Association to call a meeting attended by 2,500 residents to demand an open hearing on the ousted superintendent.

At that meeting, the secretary of the North Central Association spoke out in favor of the former superintendent, and stated that the board's inability to set a budget and to engage in politically motivated hiring practices would lower the accreditation rating of the school.

[29] At a board meeting in March, a citizen identified himself as a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and informed the board that "As an organization we are watching developments ..."[30] The interim superintendent recommended immediate austerity measures, punctuated by a reduction in staffing, including the elimination of 20 of the 40 office clerks, several custodial personnel, and the elimination of all teacher-clerks (permanent substitute teachers).

[31] As a result of the actions at Morton, the (pre-union) National Education Association's department of secondary school principals censured the board, and called for new laws that would prevent similar abuses in the future.

[32] Later in March, the board secretly selected a new superintendent and principal, despite a recommendation from the North Central Association that a list of educators form a search committee.

[34] When it was determined that the controller had taken money from the school's petty cash, leaving an IOU, the board requested, and received, a warrant for his arrest.

[35] The controller surrendered himself, and paid bail, claiming he had been suffering from a nervous breakdown brought on by the recent problems; he denied stealing from the school.

[41][42] The picket line blocked the delivery of coal to the school, forcing it to remain closed as there was only a limited stockpile available for heating.

[49] The Illinois Department of Labor issued subpoenas for school officials to appear at a conference arranged to settle the strike.

[50] An agreement was ratified by both sides on January 24, with all but four strikers returning to work, and the original fired maintenance staff guaranteed a hearing with "good prospects of reinstatement".

[51][52] In 1938, L. M. Hrudka was dismissed as superintendent, despite a year remaining on his contract, following concerns raised by the North Central Association that he was not cooperating properly with the faculty.

[54] In March 1939, the Illinois state committee of the North Central Association, citing political interference and a lack of leadership, informed the school that it would be recommending that it lose accreditation, invalidating current and future student credits toward college admission.

[55] While preparing to defend itself against these charges, the board settled a lawsuit filed by fired superintendent Hrudka for the full amount of his remaining contract.

[56] An investigation by the North Central Association resulted in the school again being put on one year's notice to improve standards or risk losing accreditation.

[59] In response, the West Suburban Teachers' Union, which represented eleven school districts, asked for all of its members to take an emergency personal day and join in protesting a back to work order issued by a judge, and what were termed as "union busting" tactics by the Morton school board.

Also in 2014, the Board of Education inaugurated the new Morton Stadium which includes a new field, concession stand, and an 8 lane track, among several facility upgrades.