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MAKAWAO - St. Joseph School will close its kindergarten through 5th-grade campus in May, marking an end to its 65-year history as an elementary school.

But St. Joseph Preschool will continue to operate next year, and the former elementary school campus may be reconfigured into an early-education center.

Principal Beth Fobbe-Wills and St. Joseph Church's pastor, the Rev. Geronimo "Eric" Castro, announced the decision to 45 students and their families in a letter mailed Monday.

"This was a not a decision made lightly nor was it a decision made in haste," Fobbe-Wills and Castro said in their letter to students' families. "To put it simply, we have not been able to get enough students consistently in grades K through 5 to make St. Joseph School fiscally sound."

Fobbe-Wills broke the news about the school's closure to her teaching staff on Monday afternoon. "It was difficult," she said tearfully Tuesday morning.

While the news appeared to stun the teaching staff of 10 and a librarian, it could not have been unexpected, according to Fobbe-Wills. "The viability of St. Joseph has been an issue for 14 years. It's not a surprise," she said.

Fobbe-Wills said it has not been decided how the school would be reconfigured for the 2010-11 school year, but the early-education center is a possibility.

St. Joseph School has struggled for years with declining enrollment despite efforts in marketing, the offering of additional programs and support from the St. Joseph Church parish. The school had one teacher for each grade and part-time specialists who taught the arts, music, physical education and computer technology.

The "magic number" to break even would be 92 students, Fobbe-Wills said. But this year the school has only 45 students. Tuition at the school is $4,600 this year.

Fobbe-Wills said the school conducts three major fundraisers throughout the academic year, but the money raised only helps make ends meet.

Fobbe-Wills said she and Castro, who was unavailable for comment Tuesday, wanted to provide early notification of the plans so families would have ample time to make arrangements for next school year. The announcement also provides teachers a chance to start pursuing jobs elsewhere.

She emphasized that the school is committed to staying open through May.

"We are going to make this last school year the best at St. Joseph's," she said.

Meanwhile, St. Joseph Preschool, which neighbors the grade school, is full and has a waiting list of children from 97 families, Fobbe-Wills said.

St. Joseph School has been covering most of the administrative work for the preschool, she said. It's possible the elementary school campus will make room for a larger preschool.

"This will require a change to the age group attending St. Joseph School, but it will not change the spirit of our mission, which is to serve the needs of our immediate community," the school's letter states.

Neither staff members nor the president of the school's parent group wanted to comment on Tuesday.

Fobbe-Wills said people appear to be reeling from the "disappointment and shock" of the decision, which ultimately was made by Castro and supported by Bishop Larry Silva, the leader of the Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.

Fobbe-Wills said Silva has challenged her and other Catholic school principals to go beyond "making ends meet" and to build programs that thrive. Having only been at St. Joseph's for two years, Fobbe-Wills said she can't be sure why enrollment has been declining, although she knows the islands' economic downturn didn't help.

She said her primary concern was that students find another school and teachers, who are all licensed and qualified to teach, get new jobs.

"They've had a wonderful run here," she said. "I think we have to trust they won't be hung out to dry."

Sylvia Comer, a St. Joseph preschool teacher who enrolled as one of St. Joseph School's first kindergartners in the 1940s, held back tears as she fondly remembered her time on the campus.

"It's breaking my heart," Comer said. "Been here so long. This is my school, this is my ohana. We all get along, and it's just so sad."

At Christ The King School in Kahului, Principal Bernadette Lopez also expressed sadness about the school's reconfiguration.

"This must have been an extremely difficult decision to make," she said. "Christ The King School will support St. Joseph's School in any way we can. We pray for the entire school community as they move forward with new opportunities."

Winona Martinez, principal at St. Anthony Grade School in Wailuku, congratulated St. Joseph for its many years of dedication to the Catholic education of students and families in Upcountry Maui.

"We offer our continued support as they begin the planning process for the reconfiguration of their campus in order to continue the education of young children," Martinez said.

The Rev. James "Jim" Orsini, a Catholic priest and principal at St. Anthony Junior Senior High School, said he supports St. Joseph's decision to focus its energies and resources on early-childhood education.

Orsini also said it was important to point out that children at St. Joseph will not be deprived of a Catholic education and, in fact, can enroll at any one of two Central Maui Catholic elementary schools - Christ The King, which currently has 88 pupils in kindergarten through 6th grade, or St. Anthony, with 180 students, also through the 6th grade.

The only other Catholic grade school is Sacred Hearts in Lahaina, where Principal Susan Hendricks reacted with prayer for the staff and families at St. Joseph's.

"I remember asking our dear God to be with those families, the students, teachers and principal," she said.

Martinez said she was uncertain of the impact St. Joseph's closure would have on her campus, but she said she welcomes faculty and students who might want to be at her school next fall.

Hendricks said she does not foresee much effect at her school, which has 211 students, including those in the early-education program and kindergarten through 8th-grade classes. She said if any of her teachers were to decide to make a career change next February, she would be "proud to invite" the St. Joseph staff to her school.

For St. Anthony Junior Senior High School, Orsini said he could, if asked, provide classroom space on his campus for additional elementary students at St. Anthony Grade School. The high school has an enrollment of nearly 200 students in grades 7 through 12.

"Many of our families have been hit by layoffs or reduction of work hours, and as a result some have been forced to withdraw their children from our school in order to maintain their mortgage payments and other financial obligations," Orsini said.

Fobbe-Wills said the decision to shut down St. Joseph at the end of this school year is final.

"We need to move forward, whatever that may be," she said. "I am hopeful that my staff will find placement, and we will be able to go forward."

* Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.