The announcement earlier this month that St. Joseph Regional Academy in Jim Thorpe will close after this academic year did not come as a major surprise, but some were shocked that it came sooner rather than later.

After all, the enrollment which was dropping by a trickle during the first part of the century became a torrent in recent years. Officials of the Allentown Diocese said they had no alternative except to pull the plug on this school, which was draining valuable financial resources from its sponsoring parishes.

To those remaining students and their parents who love the school, this was heartbreaking news. If the usual playbook strategy holds true to form, some parishioners, alumni and friends of Catholic education might try to make a last-ditch effort to persuade the diocese to give it another chance to increase the enrollment, which is estimated to be about 40. This number represents roughly one-third of the 2014 enrollment, according to news reports.

Even to the most optimistic, this is not a sustainable number, and to get a spike in enrollment that would make the diocese stand up and take notice would take a heroic and herculean effort that also may not be sustainable beyond a year or two.

The same scenario has played out across the country hundreds of times in the past 20 years because of falling birthrates, rising tuition, changing demographics and, especially, the popularity of charter schools.

The dreaded diocesan letter to parents announcing the decision was sent, ironically, on Friday the 13th. To keep the school open for another year would require a hefty tuition increase and a higher assessment for the already strapped four local parishes which support the school — St. Joseph and Immaculate Conception in Jim Thorpe, SS. Peter and Paul in Lehighton and St. Peter the Fisherman in Lake Harmony, the letter explained.

Even if the diocese were willing to go that route, it could not guarantee that significant belt-tightening would not affect the quality of education the students receive, the letter also said.

For a diocesan bishop, one of his most distasteful decisions is announcing the closing or consolidation of a beloved school or parish, which is often the glue that binds a Catholic community. That is precisely what Bishop Alfred A. Schlert had to do after reading the grim assessment of the situation provided by the Council of Priests and the Diocesan Board of Education.

What has befallen St. Joe’s, as many refer affectionately to the school and church, is not an anomaly. After a brief leveling off closed Catholic schools in the late-1990s, the number accelerated dramatically starting in 2005, and, according to the U.S. Department of Education, nearly 1,700 of these schools nationwide have closed or consolidated since then.

Among them were Our Lady of the Angels in Lansford, which closed in 2016, and SS. Peter and Paul in Lehighton, which closed in 2014.

St. Joseph Academy represents a generational tradition for many families and its alumni. It is difficult to underestimate the passion and memories that accompany the experience. These will be on full display during the coming months as students, parishioners and alumni come to terms with this painful decision and say goodbye.

What makes the decision even more gut-wrenching is the record of success that Catholic schools have had over the decades. Almost all of the graduates of these schools go on to college or additional educational study. It is not unusual for some Catholic high schools to show a 95 to 100 percent college acceptance rate. After the closure, there will be two area Catholic elementary schools in operation — St. Jerome’s in Tamaqua, which is moving to a new location in Rush Township to start the new school year, and St. John Neumann Regional School, which has campuses in Palmerton and Slatington.

After elementary classes, Carbon students typically go to Marian Catholic in Hometown or shift to public schools in their home districts. Diocesan officials told St. Joseph Regional Academy parents that educational grants will be offered for children who continue in another diocesan elementary school.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com