Many students left in tears, hugging friends for what will be their last school year at Harrow District High School.
Greater Essex County District School Board trustees voted 5-4 in favour of closing the school Tuesday evening due to low enrollment.
"It's not just a school they're closing, they're closing a community," says Barb Wright, who has sent four of her kids to Harrow high.
Her daughter Tara, who just entered Grade 9, is devastated her new school is closing in June 2016.
"It's not fair for them to close a school they don't go to," she says. "Nobody there wants it to close and now I'm just going to have to go to a new place with new people."
Harrow high school students have the choice to attend Kingsville high, but many have already said they'll be switching to the Catholic board.
Grade 7 and 8s will go back to Harrow Public School.
Hundreds of students, parents and politicians packed the St. Clair College Sportsplex for the meeting, including many from Western Secondary School.
The threat of closing the region's only special needs high school sent many into panic. However, cheers, hugs and a huge sigh of relief filled the room as everyone heard the unanimous decision to keep it open.
"It was like fireworks going off in my brain, that's all I could think of," says Austin Reid, who has a learning disability.
If Western closed, Reid says it would have altered the course of his life.
"I would have dropped out, wouldn't have went to school," he says.
There still may be some changes at Western. Trustees did vote to submit a proposal that would see Western and General Amherst consolidated into a new school in Amherstburg.
However, trustees were very clear that if the Ministry of Education approves the move, neither school will be closed until the new one opens.
In the meantime acting chair Alan Halberstadt says keeping Western open will cost the board $600,000 administration wasn't anticipating.
"Keeping Western open is less of a hit financially than keeping Harrow open," he says. "That's a lot of money, but it's not prohibitive. We'll just have to juggle the books as best we can in our next budget."
