Parents, mentors urge district to preserve Flower Mound High School robotics space and supports

Parents, students and mentors representing Flower Mound High School’s robotics program urged the Lewisville ISD Board of Trustees to preserve space and support for FIRST robotics during public comments at the March board meeting.

The speakers said facility changes and reduced district support are making it harder for the district’s FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) and FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) teams to operate. Shubhda Sharma, identified as a parent and the club president, said, “Beginning of the year, FRC was initially designated as a non supported program…we still thank Mr. Russell for continuing to recognize the program as a UI so that kids can go and participate,” and added that the team has lost classroom and equipment access.

The presentation compiled by club members and parents said the Flower Mound program has existed for about 24 years, with a booster organization for roughly 16 years, and that one FRC team is the district’s only FRC program. Speakers described a recent reduction in available space from two classrooms to one, limited after‑hours access to a printer and work area, and an unexpected conversion of a drone room into a fashion-design classroom that would eliminate an area used for building larger robots.

Parent and club treasurer Vic Bridal described the program’s scale and history and asked trustees to consider the program’s competitive record and college and career outcomes for students who participate. Pravin Janardhanam, the club’s vice president, told the board the team recently represented Team USA at an international FTC event and asked the district to allow parents to supervise access when a teacher is not present so students can work after school.

Speakers also said for the first time in 16 years the club was asked to sign a rental agreement to use campus facilities after hours and that utilities were not included. Parent Sandeep Sharma said charging the club for heating and cooling sends a discouraging message to student volunteers. Parent Lalona Parambath framed the concern as a risk to a “highly successful and impactful program” that she said fosters STEM skills and college-career readiness.

Board members did not take public action on the requests during the meeting; several trustees acknowledged the comments and asked administration to follow up. The board packet shows that Career and Technical Education (CTE) staff and campus leaders have previously supported robotics programs but that district CTE supports vary by school.

The robotics advocates asked the board to: preserve designated build space at Flower Mound High School or in a district CTE facility, allow supervised parent access when a teacher is not available, restore prior CTE support levels for the FRC program, and avoid further conversions of rooms used for robot construction. Speakers said those changes are already affecting the team’s ability to build the larger FRC robots and to serve as a regional resource to other student teams.

District staff did not announce any immediate changes during the meeting. Trustees and administration indicated they will provide a written follow-up to speakers within three business days, per the district’s public comment protocol.