The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

March 13, 2009

Elysian school building decision on hold

WEM School Board discusses future of building

By Tanner Kent

ELYSIAN — At least for now, the fate of the Elysian school building is undecided.

The Waterville-Elysian-Morristown School Board held a special meeting Thursday at the Elysian school to discuss its future in the face of a $1.1 million deficit.

Dozens were in attendance and discussions ranged from district enrollment trends — Supt. Joel Whitehurst was candid in saying the trend appears to be downward for several more years — to possible lease or sale options for the school site.

“This is the most difficult meeting I’ve ever been involved with,” Whitehurst told those in attendance. “No one wants to have conversations about re-purposing or closing a building.”

Whitehurst said the district chose to look at closing a school site because enrollment has declined from 995 in 2002 to 861 this year. Elysian was chosen specifically because it was the smallest of the district’s three sites. Now used as an elementary school, Elysian has seven classrooms, only four of which would likely be filled in the fall of 2009.

If the Elysian school were closed, the Waterville site would house grades K-4 and 9-12. Morristown would take grades 5-8. Its closing could save the district $275,000.

But the Board is also discussing a possible lease agreement with the Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, which would use the building as an early childhood center for migrant families.

Whitehurst said any agreement would be made on a short-term basis because Tri-Valley receives its funding on a yearly basis. He also said the district would retain ownership of the building — in case enrollment begins increasing again — and would pursue an agreement that entitles the community to wide access of the building’s grounds and facilities.

Several in attendance said that some use of the building would be better than no use.

“I would recommend proceeding (with the lease),” Elysian resident Tom Springmeyer told the School Board. “It makes sense. You can lease short-term and would still own it.”

Whitehurst reminded those in attendance, however, that the Board has not approved any agreement and that Tri-Valley must still clear any potential projects with its own board of directors.

An official decision on the school’s fate will not come until the School Board’s March 23 meeting, at the earliest.

“We are trying to be positive,” said board chair Patricia Nusbaum. “Maybe this will turn out to be the best thing for the district.”

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local News