A school board in southwestern Ontario has decided it can no longer operate a school with only 122 students.

Maidstone Central Public School currently has 122 students but the school board expects enrolment to drop next year. (Sean Henry/CBC)Maidstone Central Public School is now slated for closure at the end of the next school year.

A committee of the Greater Essex County District School Board said Wednesday it expects enrollment to drop even lower next year and that keeping the school open is costing too much money.

Parents say there is value in keeping their children in a small, rural school.

"100 per cent of our kids get on a bus. They get back on that bus at 3:30 and they go home. They can't go anywhere. They're safe," said Patty Monahan, whose daughter is in Grade 5 at Maidstone.

"You send them to school, they stay at school ... go to downtown Essex at noon time and look at the number of grade school children that are running around, that are in Mac's Milk, that are in Subway, they're everywhere. That, to me, is not a safe environment."

'You know, it might be easier to accept if there weren't 12 schools in the city that were under-enrolled but aren't being looked at.'—Rick Chauvin, grandparent

Families at the school board meeting said they worry their children might just become a number at a larger school, and feel that Maidstone has been unfairly targeted.

"You know, it might be easier to accept if there weren't 12 schools in the city that were under-enrolled but aren't being looked at," said Rick Chauvin, whose grandchild attends Maidstone.

1 teacher coaches all boys' sports

The school board said, in addition to the argument about costs, it also has to consider the nine teachers who work at the school.

If the board approves closing Maidstone school, students would be sent to one of four schools in the region. (Sean Henry/CBC)Only one of them is a man and it's up to him to coach all the boys' sports teams.

"It's very difficult for them to spread themselves that thin, as well as doing an excellent job in the classroom," said Terry Lyons, board superintendent.

The trustees will make a final decision on May 19.

If they agree to close Maidstone, school boundaries would be redrawn and the Maidstone students would be sent to one of four schools in the area: Belle River Public School, Gosfield North Public School in Cottam, Essex Public School, or the new school currently under construction in Tecumseh.

None of the students will be sent to Lakeshore Discovery, because the board says that school is full.