Enrollments are dropping. Schools are closing. Teachers are scarce.

While these are difficult times for Catholic schools, local educators are doing what they can to survive in Cayuga County.

"To some, the values aren't as important in society today. In choosing Catholic school, we're counter-cultural," said Kathleen Coye, principal at St. Joseph Catholic School in Auburn.

Across the country, dwindling Catholic populations and soaring tuition costs are forcing Catholic schools to close or merge with neighboring schools under a new identity.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn announced its biggest round of school closings Feb. 9 - Ash Wednesday - shutting down 22 Catholic elementary schools enrolling more than 4,000 students. In neighboring Seneca County, St. Patrick School in Seneca Falls and St. Mary School in Waterloo will consolidate to form St. John Bosco in September.

"We see consolidation as a chance to start anew and build a new strong school," said Michael Tedesco, spokesman for the Diocese of Rochester.

But there's not much left in Cayuga County to consolidate.

Only three Catholic schools - two elementary and one high school - remain in the county after several consolidation efforts in the past few decades. But school administrators are confident they'll be able to ride out this current trend of shrinking school enrollment.

St. Joseph School and SS. Peter and Paul Ukranian Catholic School, both in Auburn, have seen enrollment figures decline. In the past five years, the schools have lost 43 and 18 percent of their students, respectively.

Cayuga County's Catholic school enrollment trends are in line with the national average, said Michael Guerra, president of the National Catholic Education Association.

But the national trend varies based on geography.

In Southern states, Catholic populations - and schools - are booming.

But not in the Northeast and Midwest.

Part of that decline can be traced back to the decreasing importance of the local Catholic parish in society. Catholic elementary schools were traditionally the place where students from a certain parish would go.

But with today's concerns over consolidating Catholic elementary schools, they lose their attachment to and financial support from an individual parish.

"The parish today doesn't have the same capacity to support its school," Guerra said. "It's a big, big challenge and it's not easier when you're losing Catholic populations in a given community."

And some parents are more reluctant to support the school when tuition costs rise.

The costs, coupled with the lack of resources Catholic schools can provide compared with larger schools, are causing parents to reevaluate their child's education options at the end of middle school.

"When you move from eighth grade to ninth grade, sometimes tuition doubles," Guerra said.

Bill Locastro, SS. Peter and Paul's principal, notices that critical decision is made by families while their children are between fifth and seventh grade.

"Sometimes the kids talk their parents into letting them play sports at another middle school," he said.

But the schools are trying to compete in different ways by catering to unique audiences. SS. Peter and Paul incorporates Ukrainian traditions into the classroom even though only 5 percent of its students are of Ukrainian descent. Students helped make pigs-in-a-blanket for a recent Ukrainian dinner, and they will also make traditional bread to celebrate Easter.

The challenge of keeping traditions alive while keeping tuition affordable presents a problem for all Catholic schools, Locastro said.

"It's been difficult for educators to decide what to do about it," he said.

Rather than be complacent with decreasing enrollment, St. Joseph's has tried to stay competitive by upgrading the school's library and technology offerings. Its students are also eligible to play some modified sports with Auburn High School students.

Recruiting and keeping teachers is another challenge Catholic schools face, Coye said. After she came to St. Joseph two years ago, five teacher positions were vacant. It's becoming more difficult for small Catholic schools to compete with better salaries and benefit packages offered by public schools. But St. Joseph's has found ways to cope.

"Like parents make sacrifices in being able to pay tuition, teachers make sacrifices in salary," Coye said. "You get rich in other ways."

The county's only Catholic high school has been able to hold its number of students steady.

Tyburn Academy of Mary Immaculate, an independent Catholic school not affiliated with the Rochester Diocese, was founded in 1993 by the Rev. Albert Shamon with only three students in ninth grade. The school's enrollment has remained stable, with between 26 and 35 students over the past five years.

"Parents were disillusioned with secularism that was rampant in more and more schools," said Tyburn Principal Jeanne Hogan.

It was difficult in the school's infancy to recruit students, Hogan said.

But the school's reputation has grown, with rigorous academics, including two years of Latin language and theology class four days a week. Its graduates are entering esteemed programs like West Point Military Academy.

"Parents are starting to see we do offer a good academic education," she said.

Tyburn is recruiting students from as far away as Syracuse despite other options closer to home like Christian Brothers Academy and Bishop Ludden.

"It's not like you're one of a thousand," Hogan said.

And to retain and recruit new students, Tyburn added boys basketball and girls field hockey teams to their extracurricular activities this year.

"It will be enticing for new students having a full environment," Hogan said.

Tyburn is also attractive to retired public school teachers who are not ready to give up teaching. They are often willing to work for less money, and the less stressful environment of a small class is appealing.

"They sometimes only have a class of three or four to deal with," said Dave DeSantis, a social studies teacher at Tyburn.

There's little teacher turnover at Tyburn, Hogan said. Just like at St. Joseph, retired teachers are willing to take the pay cut to be part of the school's family atmosphere.

"We are blessed with teachers who don't need this as a full-time income," Hogan said.

Traditionally, enrollment figures at Catholic schools tend to ebb and flow. In the late 1990s, enrollment grew nationally, said Guerra. But in the past five years, there has been a painfully apparent decline though local educators are optimistic.

"Catholic education will survive the lull right now. The end result is that it will still be here," Locastro said. "If the community didn't want it, it would have been gone a long time ago."

Staff writer Liz Hacken can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 267 or elizabeth.hacken@lee.net