Parents, teachers and students were shocked when the Catholic Education Office announced it would close Mt Carmel High School at the end of the year, blaming falling enrolments.

They also expressed concern about the office's lack of consultation over the decision.

Catholic Education Office Resource Management and Strategy head John Barker said just 61 students enrolled in years 7 to 10 at the school this year, down from nearly 150 in 2004.

He said the Catholic Education Commission took educational and financial viability and proximity to another Catholic school into account in its decision to close the school.

"There just aren't the opportunities for students in secondary school these days with that number of students and there is a reasonable proximity to Catholic schooling in the ACT," he said.

Mr Barker said regular buses were available to take current Mt Carmel High School students to Canberra next year, where they would be given priority enrolment at John Paul College in Nicholls, St Francis Xavier College in Florey and Merici College in Braddon.

The students would also be given uniforms for their family's chosen Catholic school and parents would be charged only what they would have paid at Mt Carmel.

Mr Barker admitted the office had not told parents the school was under threat and had not consulted with them about how to lift enrolments. "We were trying to save the school obviously, and any speculation could just result in a further exodus of students," he said.

Mt Carmel school board chairwoman Lara Kirk wrote to Archbishop Christopher Prowse telling him she was told the Catholic Education Office had a "watching brief" on the school until Wednesday.

"We were not made aware that our school was under imminent threat of closure," she wrote.

Mrs Kirk asked the archbishop to give the Mt Carmel High School another year to prove itself.

Mr Barker said enrolments at Mt Carmel's primary school remained healthy, at more than 300 students.

with the Yass Tribune