One of Honey Harbour’s two schools will soon close.

Parents attended the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board meeting on Wednesday hoping to save Our Lady of Mercy Elementary School, but it wasn't meant to be.

Trustees from the board voted to close the school; the deciding factor was low enrollment.

The decision means students will be bused 28 kilometres away to St. Antoine Daniel Catholic Elementary School in Victoria Harbour.

“I just believe that with 14 students they would be better served at a bigger school,” said trustee Carol Corriveau-Truchon.

“By having them in a larger group, a larger classroom with children their own age, there will be a much improved learning environment for them and a social environment and for sports too,” says Glenn Clarke, controller of plant.

The news was overwhelming for parents, who had been fighting the closure for months. It could also have an impact on the community as a whole.

“We do face a lot of families that are potentially talking about leaving the community and moving into a town where there is access to education,” says Katherine Breeson of Save Our Schools in Honey Harbour Committee.

What makes matters worse for residents is that the community’s only public school may also close. The Trillium Lakelands School Board will weigh the fate of Honey Harbour Public School in the spring.

HHPS has 38 students, and if it closes, students would be bussed 56 kilometres to Glenn Orchard Public School in Bala.

Members of Save Our Schools in Honey Harbour Committee plan to regroup in the hopes of keeping the community’s last school open.