Chapman's Ice Cream initially offered to purchase Beavercrest Community School in Markdale for about CA$1m ($741,000; Â£596,000).
"This is the community that helped build us to what we are," vice-president Ashley Chapman told the BBC.
Although regulations and an asbestos problem might make buying the school difficult, he said the company will work with the school board to come up with a solution that works, and intends to help cover some costs.
"Somebody's got to step to the plate and somebody's got to help fix the situation," he said.
Mr Chapman proposed buying the building and leasing it back to the school board at a reasonable rate in order to keep the school open.
But the aging building could require millions of dollars worth of repairs, and regulations make it tricky for a private company to buy a public building still intended for public use.
"Essentially what we were proposing was a giant band aid to delay the situation," he said.
The school is one of about 600 - many in rural areas - that the province has earmarked to be shut down in order to save costs.
If Beavercrest were to close, children from the town would have to spend up to 90 minutes in a bus commuting to one of three other schools in the area. It has 195 students but has a capacity for 319, according to a recent report by the local school board.
"We all realise that something needs to happen and something needs to change, but whatever happens needs to benefit the students," he said.
An alumnus of Beavercrest himself, Mr Chapman said helping isn't just the right thing to do, it's smart business.
Chapman's, which was founded in 1973 by his parents, is one of the largest ice cream manufacturers in Canada and has doubled its workforce over the past six years, he said.
The company intends to expand even more, and that means they need to attract people to the small town of Markdale, which has a population of just 1,325.
Mr Chapman said he's already struggled to attract people to the area, even after raising wages.
"Where are these people going to come from, especially if we don't have an elementary school in this area?" he said.

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4 October 2014 Last updated at 18:35 BST
She said she will seek a judicial review against Mark H Durkan because he took the decision to adopt the planning policy without the agreement of the full Northern Ireland Executive.
Helen Jones reports for BBC Newsline.

The company, best known for its smartphone chips, wants to reduce spending by $1.4bn (Â£900m), partly through a 15% cut in its workforce.
The US-based firm also delivered its third profit warning of the year.
Qualcomm had been under pressure from major shareholders to make changes in light of rising competition from Asia.
The cost-cutting efforts announced on Wednesday will include culling around 4,500 full-time jobs.
Qualcomm also said it may break itself up.
Shareholder Jana Partners had been pressuring the firm to separate the chip business from the more profitable patent-licensing business.
The company makes chips used in smartphones and tablets, especially the Snapdragon processor found in many mid- and high-end Android devices.
But it has faced increasing competition from Asian manufacturers like Taiwan's MediaTek or smaller Chinese chipmakers.
Smartphone giant Samsung plans to increasingly use its own processors for its future devices rather than going for the Snapdragon chip.
Qualcomm shares fell more than 20% over the past year and dropped further in Wednesday's after hour trading.
In a weak revenue forecast, the company had to give its third profit warning of the year.
For the past quarter, the company said its net income fell by 47% with revenue down by 14%, both numbers coming in below expectations.
A Canadian ice cream manufacturer hopes it can give something back to its local community, by keeping an elementary school in Ontario province from shutting down.
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Northern Ireland's Enterprise Minister, Arlene Foster, is to challenge the environment minister in court over his approval of the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan.
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Qualcomm has said it aims to cut costs and jobs and might restructure itself as it delivers a fresh profit warning in the face of rising competition.