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Parent urges board to find dedicated STEM space after robotics program turned away students
Summary
A community member told the Stillwater school board that space constraints forced the district to turn away students from robotics and other STEM activities and asked the board to consider STEM needs during ongoing facility planning.
At the Stillwater Public Schools board meeting, patron Stacy Laxton urged the board to allocate dedicated space for STEM activities, saying the district’s current facilities cannot meet rising demand for robotics, coding and engineering programs.
“STEM opportunities should not be a luxury,” Laxton told the board during the public-comment period. She said 75 students applied for the robotics program for the junior high and high school site; 56 were accepted. Of those accepted, 26 are high school students and 30 are junior high students, and the program’s current space cannot accommodate simultaneous practices for all teams.
Laxton asked the board to consider STEM programs during ongoing and future facility planning, noting that the planned loss of the current high school increased pressure on available space. She said students turned away miss opportunities to collaborate and learn skills that could lead to careers in engineering and technology.
The comment was taken during the public-comment segment; board members did not debate or immediately act on the request during the meeting.
