ATTLEBORO -- The city school system has ended its adult literacy program and has returned a $239,000 grant to the state.

School officials and the director of the private Literacy Center in Attleboro said they are hoping the center can take over the program and the funding.

According to school officials, the adult literacy program was facing several problems that led to its discontinuation.

A state audit of the program had found it was having trouble retaining students and staff.

Furthermore, virtually every school official associated with the program has left. The superintendent, personnel director, high school principal, director of continuing education, three teachers and a secretary either retired or quit.

`` As you can see, these changes would not allow the district to give the program the attention that it demands,'' former Superintendent Joel Lovering wrote to the state explaining why he was returning the five-year grant.

New Superintendent Pia Durkin said she does not want people to get the impression that the schools do not consider adult literacy important.

She said it was decided The Literacy Center was better equipped to provide the services.

`` We don't want to send the message that lifelong literacy is not a priority for the community,'' she said.

Durkin said the officials at the time felt it was better for the schools to concentrate on kindergarten through grade 12 education rather than trying to do too many things.

She said there is a trend in education for private agencies like The Literacy Center to take over adult literacy programs.

Fall River and Lowell have recently moved in that direction, she said.

In Attleboro, both the schools and The Literacy Center were running programs.

Joan Ricci, director of The Literacy Center, said her program is ready and willing to take over if the state grant can be transferred. The programs include teaching English as a second language, teaching adults to read and preparing adults for a high school equivalency diploma.

`` We could take over that grant and run those classes,'' she said.

The Literacy Center was already receiving $35,000 of the grant to train tutors.

In the meantime, the center will continue on with its own programs, but it has a waiting list of 140, Ricci said.

State Rep. John Lepper, R-Attleboro, said he and other area legislators have prepared a letter to the state supporting the transfer of the grant.

Heidi Pearlman, a spokeswoman for the Education Department, said the literacy grants are typically reserved for public school systems, but are sometime given to private agencies.

However, she said The Literacy Center would have to go through the application process and have their case evaluated.