Lambton Kent District School Board trustees planned to consider reaching out to their Catholic counterparts to keep rural schools open when they met Tuesday.
Faced with funding cutbacks and declining enrolment, it was recommended trustees write a letter to the St. Clair Catholic District School Board, asking that they meet to find common solutions.
The motion says that could be done, possibly by sharing school buildings that both boards can utilize for their students.
The public board did not receive provincial funding for a new $27.7-million Kindergarten to Grade 12 school in the Forest area.
Two previously defeated motions were also expected to be reconsidered.
One would see the consolidation of Aberarder Central, Bosanquet Central, Kinnwood Central and North Lambton Secondary Schools into a Kindergarten to Grade 12 school on the Kinnwood site. The motion would also see the board apply for funding for construction and the acquisition of land next to Kinnwood Central.
The other motion would see the closure of Aberarder Central with students being consolidated at the Kinnwood Central site as of July 1, 2018, if no funding is provided for the Kindergarten to Grade 12 school.