Stillwater students, coaches and advocates press board for dedicated robotics/STEM space as program expands

Students, coaches and community members urged the Stillwater Public Schools Board of Education on Tuesday to provide dedicated high‑school space for the district’s rapidly expanding robotics and STEM programs and celebrated recent competitive success.

The board heard remarks from multiple students and program supporters who said the robotics program now includes more than 50 active junior‑high and high‑school students and 11 competition teams, and that current practice and storage space is insufficient for continued growth. “We are rocking 51 actively participating students,” Rebecca Palmetore said during a recognition of the district’s robotics program, describing an increase in high‑school teams from two to five this year and an overall rise in junior‑high teams.

The request for space was echoed during the public‑comment portion of the meeting. Barbara Langston told the board that Stillwater Middle and junior high teams hold recent state championships and asked the board to “provide dedicated areas for STEM programs” so students can practice, collaborate and compete. “By providing dedicated areas for STEM programs, we can equip students with the tools needed to excel, not just in the classroom, but in competitive activities such as robotics and beyond,” Langston said.

Other public speakers reiterated the demand: Addie Welch Britton and Hunter Scott described how crowded current facilities are when more than a dozen teams share limited rooms and urged the board to identify and reserve space to support collaboration, storage and hands‑on work.

Program leaders and parents outlined specific operational needs: a workshop‑style room for robot assembly; secure storage for components and competition crates; multiple benches or tables for parallel team work; and adequate electrical and network access for robot programming and testing. Palmetore and student speakers also highlighted the program’s competitive record and out‑of‑state travel: teams recently competed at signature events in Colorado and Alabama and have qualified for national events.

Board members acknowledged the requests and noted that planning for facility use and future capital projects is underway through the district’s long‑range planning discussions. No formal motion to allocate space was made during the meeting; board members directed staff to include program space needs in ongoing facility and bond planning conversations.

The board did not adopt a formal policy or commit funding at the meeting; speakers and board members characterized the item as a planning and facilities request that will be carried forward to committees and future agenda items.

The board’s acknowledgement leaves the program’s advocates expecting a follow‑up: Langston asked the board to consider space that can serve both present practice needs and anticipated growth as younger students move up through the district’s feeder programs.

The board meeting included other recognitions and routine business, but robotics and STEM space requests were the most substantive community requests during public comment.