The article draws on archival documents to explore the crisis faced by schools in Ural factory settlements in 1742-1750. In 1742, the Chancellery of the Main Factory Administration made a decision to reduce the network of schools and limit the number of students by enrolling only orphans, children of retirees, soldiers, and raznochintsy eligible for government support. This meant that some children were forced to leave school before the age of 15 and had to be allocated to work. The study provides the information on how the admission of children to schools was organized in 1745 and 1748 and how many children were denied access to school as a result of this reform. The article also examines the proposals of the President of the Mining Collegium, A. F. Tomilov, regarding the reorganization of schools in 1746, as well as the corresponding measures suggested by the Ural authorities.