BRICK — St. Thomas Christian Academy's board of trustees has decided to eliminate its first- through eighth-grade curriculum when the school year concludes in June.

However, academy officials said the school's prekindergarten and kindergarten programs would continue.

Citing decreasing enrollment as the primary factor, Robert Sanger, the academy's executive director, said the administration was trying until this week to find a way to continue its grade-school curriculum.

"We were still trying to figure out a way to continue up until (Monday)," Sanger said. "It just wasn't feasible due to the enrollment being lower than we expected."

The academy gained notoriety in November 2005, when it, along with the St. Thomas Lutheran Church and its parent organization Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, were named in a lawsuit alleging that a former pastor of the church, the Rev. Robert L. Slegel, molested children between 1967 and 1985.

There are 21 plaintiffs involved in the lawsuit which is still pending, according to Toms River attorney Robert R. Fuggi Jr., who filed the suit that seeks $5 million in damages for each plaintiff.

Slegel resigned in 1993 and died in 2006. His widow, Cynthia Slegel, who was once principal of the academy, and the Rev. John M. Elstad, a onetime associate pastor of the church under Slegel, also are named in the lawsuit.

Elstad was named pastor when Slegel resigned amid scandal in 1993.

"There was absolutely no discussion about that lawsuit. This was strictly a business matter," Harold McAvoy, vice president of school's board of trustees, said Wednesday.

In a Monday night information session held with parents at the church, Cathi Parry, president of the board of trustees, announced the drastic steps school officials would take.

In a 30-minute presentation, Parry answered questions from the parents in attendance about the school's fate.

She said the budget continued to show a deficit but the school would have enough money to pay the bills through the remainder of the school year.

The board of trustees said people who posted a deposit toward next year's tuition would receive their money back by next week.

Sanger said the school will continue to host and operate its summer camp program, which begins June 23. However, the board of trustees said 25 children would need to enroll in the summer camp in order to make it profitable. As of this week, eight children had signed up for the summer program.

There are 92 students enrolled at the academy ranging from prekindergarten through eighth grade. But that number of students is well below what administrators expected, according to its three-year strategic plan released last spring.

The plan estimated the school needed 110 students enrolled this year to achieve financial stability. It called for a 10 percent increase in enrollment each year after.

But as of Monday, only 44 students had registered for next year, according to Sanger.

Parents affiliated with the school were saddened by the announcement at a Monday meeting attended by about 40 people.

At the regularly scheduled PTO meeting Tuesday, parents discussed the loss of friendships and educational alternatives, according to PTO Treasurer Dennis Pfefferkorn of Toms River.

"I wasn't that surprised, because I knew they had a problem with enrollment," said Pfefferkorn, who has two sons in the school, one in seventh grade and the other in eighth. "I could see the handwriting on the wall. It's sad. It's really upsetting for the kids especially."

Another Toms River resident, Leila Pancurak, is the mother of four children who graduated from the academy.

Her daughter Sara is attending Wagner College and her oldest daughter, Jane, is set to graduate from Villanova next month. She said the education offered at St. Thomas Christian Academy was superb.

"That school prepared my children so well. It's a shame," said Pancurak, who has a son and daughter now attending the Peddie School in Hightstown. "Because of that I was trying to help the school in trying to get their enrollment back up. I don't know what caused it to go down like it had."

Parry said the enrollment at the school peaked at 283 students a few years ago.

Fuggi, the attorney representing the 21 plaintiffs in the molestation lawsuit, said he sympathizes with the children and parents who attend the school, but the administration of the academy has only itself to blame.

"I think parents are probably apprehensive about sending children to a school with a history of no accountability and letting serious things go on unresolved," Fuggi said.

In a statement released by the administration Tuesday, school officials said 55 current students will be affected by the decision.

Sanger said 15 teachers and support staff will lose their jobs.

The staff was notified Monday afternoon.

Keith Ruscitti: (732) 557-5748 or kruscitti@app.com