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By Shannon McDonald

Rumors have been circulating in the past year or so, but it’s now official that St. Bernard’s Catholic Grade School will close in June at the end of this school year.

Father Joseph Accardi, the church pastor, said the decision to close the Mayfair school was not an easy one, but is the most logical given the school’s decreasing enrollment and low Mass attendance. The projected enrollment for the 2009-2010 school year was 177, down from 202 this year and 308 in 2006.

Accardi said the finances to educate so few students just aren’t there.

Beginning in September, students will attend either St. Matthew parish on Cottman Avenue in Mayfair or St. Domenic parish on Frankford Avenue in Holmesburg.