On a 6-1 roll call vote, the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown School Board officially decided to close WEM Middle School in Morristown. The decision was made at the board’s regular meeting on Oct. 27.
“I think we’re losing an opportunity to increase enrollment,” Board Member Jeff Stangler said. Stangler was the lone vote against closing the school. “We did all this talking, but we’ve never done anything.”
The building will be closed as of June 5, 2026.
“I want to make it clear that today we are not voting to sell the building,” Board Chair Gary Michael said before the vote. “We’re voting to close the building and move to one site.”
Following the closure, the one-site plan would move the students attending grades 5-8 to Waterville’s school complex, which already houses the elementary and high schools.
Ahead of the vote, public comment was accepted. Speakers included Morristown Mayor Tim Flaten, Nancy Velzke and Melanie Hopman.
Hopman presented the board with a petition to keep the school open. It received 420 signatures from members of the WEM community.
“The school board has not been transparent with school district residents regarding the closure and potential sale of the Morristown building,” the letter accompanying the petition read.
Michael noted that some of the items mentioned in the petition were still being considered, including the sale of the building.
Velzke’s comments to the board also stuck to the theme of transparency. She was also critical of the outside consultant, Dr. Roger B. Worner, who presented his recommendation to close the school in May.
“(Worner) bragged about the fact he closed 150 schools,” Velzke said. “Did anybody ask before we hired him, ‘How many schools have you saved?’ That’s what we should have been trying before.”
The discussion to close the school first came up in late 2024 when former Superintendent John Regan sent a letter to parents addressing the possibility.
In December 2024, the board voted to delay the decision to close the school, but noted...
To see more on this story pick up the October 30, 2025 print edition of the LifeEnterprise.