That was the problem in Markdale, Ontario, where the province, looking to cut costs, planned to close the local Beavercrest Community School.

Unlike in many other communities, a savior arrived.

The town’s big employer, Chapman’s Ice Cream, stepped and offered two million Canadian dollars to save the school. Private money and public education don’t traditionally mix in Canada so the initial plan didn’t quite work out. But when I went there to report and write an article about the school, I found that the offer of cash had prompted the province and school board to rethink the role of rural schools. Beavercrest, in a new form, looks likely to survive.