MONTREAL - It's parents like Stefan Gauthier who have been contributing to the diminishing enrollment in the English Montreal School Board.

Gauthier, an Anglophone, is legally allowed under Quebec's language law to send his daughter Emma to an English language public school but opted instead for French.

"For us it just seemed more natural to put the kids in French, at least to start, given that it's a bit of a tougher language," said Gauthier.

One EMSB administrator said that it's a common decision but not one that helps its cause.

"A lot of people who are allowed to send their kids to English school are going to send them to French school anyway," said Carole Arsneault of the EMSB.

Another problem is the low birthrate, which has been only perked up slightly after decades of dropping.

"It has gone up to 1.4, 1.5 but that's not enough to sustain the population," said Horace Goddard of the EMSB. "We have lost 600 students this year, we'll lose another 500 in the future."

Other English-language boards are also feeling the pinch.

"Last year actually was our lowest kindergarten enrollment," said Carol Heffernan of the Lester B. Pearson School Board.

The EMSB now has 20,886 students and it is projected to drop to 18,300 in 13 years, according to the Education Ministry.

One Education Professor said that the English system is not in danger of shutting down, however but bilingual school systems might one day rise instead.

"We're divided with the francophones in one school and the Anglophones in other schools," said Riches. "If we could have the kids together I mean that would be amazing."