Chapman’s Ice Cream is treating a local school to more than $2 million as part of a plan to keep it open — and eventually help rebuild it.

Trustees at the Bluewater District School Board voted Tuesday night to approve a proposal that would see the Municipality of Grey Highlands and the ice cream company keep the rural school open in the short term, with a further $4 million — shared equally between Chapman’s and developer Parataxis — to rebuild Beavercrest Community School in Markdale.

The board has given itself two years to fine-tune the details with the three parties, and keep Beavercrest open in the meantime.

“There are a lot of balls in the air right now,” said Chair Ron Motz. “But there is the potential for a really exciting partnership there.”

At Queen’s Park on Wednesday, Education Minister Mitzie Hunter said, “My understanding is that they are looking at innovative and creative solutions — we do support community hubs in schools. We know how important schools are to the social fabric of communities.”

She added, however, that there are clear fundraising guidelines in place for boards, and she is glad to see the board taking some time before moving ahead.

The plan, however, is raising concerns about private money funding public schools. But for parents and those in the community, there is relief.

Ashley Chapman, the ice cream company’s vice-president, is encouraged by the board’s decision, which gets the final stamp of approval later this month by the same group of trustees who unanimously supported it Tuesday.

He said the municipality has agreed to cover the roughly $50,000 in extra costs the board faces each year in keeping Beavercrest open — and if that amount goes any higher, Chapman’s will make up the difference.

Boards and schools cannot accept money to operate schools, but the idea is that the municipality and Chapman’s would pay to rent school space, which is permitted.

While details on rebuilding Beavercrest remain under discussion, Chapman’s and Parataxis could fund the community hub part of the rebuild, and the board the school itself. To do so, the board requires ministry of education approval, and funding.

While Chapman has said a school is crucial to attracting families to the area as his family business expands, “in the worst-case scenario, Chapman’s Ice Cream would survive — we’ve been through a lot worse than a school closing. The fear truly was for the kids at the school, especially the special needs students. It would be heartbreaking to see such a setback for them.”

Beavercrest school has 192 students, but room for 314.

Local Progressive Conservative MPP Bill Walker (Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound) called the offer a “lifeline,” but said “it brings into question why the government is abdicating its responsibility to properly fund education” and worries about communities that don’t have a Chapman’s “to come to the rescue.”

His party is calling for a two-year moratorium on school closings.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said “it’s absolutely unbelievable that things have gotten this far — here we are in Ontario and expecting a private company to save a school. It’s obvious the Liberals’ system for closing schools has gone off the rails.”

Hunter has said that in the past 14 years, the government has spent at least $16 billion on school buildings, opening or renovating almost 1,600 schools — 450 of them in rural areas.

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But because of reductions to a top-up grant from the province to help support low-enrolment schools, Motz said “boards are getting to choose which schools to close, but the funding formula is driving the reduction.”

He said the partnership with Chapman’s and Parataxis “is one that could be really exciting and good for the community … I think it would be a really good template” for future school-community hub combinations.

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