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Students who planned to attend Christ the King School in Albany, which closed last May, were awarded $500 grants to apply to their tuition at other Catholic schools this fall.

The school board recently sent checks totaling $14,500 to almost 30 students, according to Rev. James Fitzmaurice, pastor of Christ the King parish. About a dozen teachers and staff also received severance packages.

"We're really fortunate," Father Fitzmaurice noted. "So many schools close in debt."

Overall, the school closed with $60,000 to spare - despite an enrollment that had steadily declined from about 125 to 44 within five years.

"If we had opened next year," said Father Fitzmaurice, "that [$60,000] would have been gone and we would have gone into debt."

It's unusual for a school with enrollment problems to fight off money problems, said Terri McGraw, diocesan assistant superintendent of schools.

Father Fitzmaurice credits the parents' fundraisers, as well as a fiscally wise principal and finance committee. They were good stewards, he said.

When the board approached Bishop Howard J. Hubbard last spring with the school's leftover funds, he made the grant suggestion.

"We wanted to continue to help - if we could - our students, as well as other schools," Father Fitzmaurice agreed.

Christ the King students dispersed to schools like St. Madeleine Sophie in Schenec-tady and Mater Christi in Albany, among others.

Christ the King School will still operate as an Early Childhood Education Center, continuing its day care, nursery school and pre-Kindergarten classes (call 456-5400). About 43 pre-Kindergarten pupils are currently enrolled for the fall; the threshold is 45.[[In-content Ad]]

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