ST. CHARLES — Two years ago, the decision brought out tears, tissues and tales of days gone by.

School officials in St. Charles voted to close two schools and reorganize buildings because of declining enrollment and tight finances. On the last day of school at Benton and Blackhurst elementary schools, teachers cried, some parents expressed bitterness and students wondered what the next year would bring.

"It was heartbreaking," said Stephanie Louvier, who was president of the now-defunct Blackhurst Parent-Teacher Organization. "It's a very nice neighborhood school. It has no life to it anymore."

Now, two years after its final bell rang, there's a chance Blackhurst could come back.

The district's anticipated decline in enrollment didn't happen this year, with the total number of students at 5,174, about the same as last year. The district underestimated its enrollment this year, partly because there were more kindergartners than expected. And kindergarten classes are expected to be large again each of the next two school years, administrators say. They think total enrollment will decrease to about 5,000 over the next two years and then stabilize or increase slowly.

Superintendent Randy Charles wants to begin preparing now for the possibility that the district will need more classroom space to keep class sizes low and set up a preschool program. Last week, he proposed a series of meetings to get ideas and feedback from the community to develop a plan for the 2011-12 school year.

Reopening Blackhurst is a possibility, said Charles, who became superintendent in July 2007, after the reorganization decisions. "That's why the district has held on to it."

Enrollment in the district had been steadily declining, prompting the emotional reorganization to save money. School Board members and residents held several tense meetings in 2006 as they decided which schools to close. They chose Benton and Blackhurst elementaries, which closed in 2007.

"It was sad," said Jane Bayliss, mother of three. "As a neighbor to that school, I would be happy to see it open again."

Benton became the district's central office. Blackhurst was leased temporarily to the library district and is now shuttered.

The reorganization reduced the number of

elementary schools to five. Jefferson Middle School became a districtwide building for all fifth- and sixth-graders, and Hardin Middle School became the building for all seventh- and eighth-graders.

Rhonda Bethmann's daughter attended Blackhurst for kindergarten, first and second grade until the school closed. She now attends fifth grade at Academy of the Sacred Heart, partly because Bethmann was concerned that St. Charles school boundaries would be redrawn again and her daughter would be uprooted a second time.

"The transition was not easy and hasn't been. She still talks about how she wishes they hadn't closed down Blackhurst," Bethmann said. "I'll personally never hear the end of it if they open Blackhurst."

Officials say the decision to close the schools has helped the district avoid major teacher cuts in these tough economic times and remain focused on low class sizes.

But space is tight in the district's five elementary buildings to keep K-4 class sizes at or about 20 students each, officials say. Similar decisions in grades five and six have led to little remaining unused space at Jefferson Middle.

The reasons enrollment has not dropped this school year could be many, Charles said. The economic downturn could mean fewer parents are sending their children to private schools. Recently released figures show a slight dip in private and parochial school enrollment in the St. Louis region.

Louvier drives by Blackhurst each weekday to take her son to middle school. The Blackhurst PTO worked for three years to build a new playground that now sits unused most of the time.

She has a 9-month-old son and would love to see Blackhurst reopen. One possibility is turning the space into a preschool/kindergarten center for the entire district.

"I would be ecstatic if he would be able to go there," she said.