From the mid of the 20th century, the European educational system has been practically under the permanent pressure of reforms, that captures rural schools with stronger power. In the Czech case the pressure was strengthened by the fall of communism in 1989, started the transformation of political, economical and societal system. The educational system and the school organization were influenced by the transformation as well, which involved changes not only in school provision but also mirrored in relationships between schools and their communities and between schools mutually. The paper aims at impacts of educational policy conceptions on rural areas in long-term perspective. The special emphasis will be put on the analysis of changes in spatial elementary schools pattern, forms and extent of catchment areas and transformation of main commuting directions to schools in the context of education policy. There will be used methods of cartographic visualisation with the utilization of geoinformatics, as well as standard methods of quantitative and qualitative research design. Using data from in-depth interviews and questionnaires addressed to representatives of headteachers and founders of small elementary schools under threat of closure in disadvantaged areas we will demonstrate the examples of problems concerning rural elementary schools provision.