WARE COUNTY, Ga. -- A tight economy is putting the future of a southeast Georgia magnet school in question.

School officials in Ware County said financial problems may force them to close the school, something many parents don't want to see happen.

Hundreds of concerned parents attended a meeting in Waycross Monday night to discuss options the county may have.

The district said it could save around $1 million by shutting the magnet school down.

Parents brought the option of closing a middle school instead of the K-12 magnet school, but that idea was shot down.

Parents and students said they are adamantly opposed the closing the school.

"We are divided, and what's going to happen is not only are our kids going to suffer, but this community is on the verge of if they talk about financial loss, the businesses are fixing to relocate to other counties, it's going to be detrimental to this county," one parent said. "It is a very serious issue here amongst us parents."

Allie Smith, a student at the magnet school, said she was upset when she heard the school might be closing.

"I just cried, that's all you can do," Smith said. "There's nothing I can say to (the superintendent) to change his mind. We've all tried."

"What the superintendent proposed was that we close our school and perhaps relocate to another location," parent Mitchell Smith said. "We don't want to affect any other school in this system. Every school here has built up a program that they feel is the best for their children. They're wonderful schools."

The superintendent said while the magnet school has been a good school, there are good schools all over the county. He said tough decisions sometimes need to be made in a very tight budget years.

The decision has not been finalized. The school board will make a final vote on Tuesday that will determine if the school remains open or will close.