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Stillwater student tells board $350,000 playground must be replaced; PTO has raised $150,000
Summary
A Sanger student, speaking at public comment, asked the Stillwater school board to match roughly $150,000 raised by the PTO so a damaged, non‑accessible playground — estimated at $350,000 to fix — can be replaced before current students graduate.
Kora De Santis, a Sanger Elementary student, told the Stillwater Public Schools board during public comment that the main playground at her school is unsafe and not accessible to students with disabilities and asked the district to help complete a replacement project.
"We need a new playground," Kora said, describing broken slides, plywood covering unusable areas and a basketball court that is lifting with grass and mold. She added that "the disabled friends can only sit in the gazebo at recess." Kora told the board the estimated cost to fix the playground is $350,000 and that the parent‑teacher organization has raised about $150,000 toward that total.
School board members listened and applauded after the presentation; Kora answered a student‑led question about why good play spaces matter, citing research that better recess and play areas help children focus in class. Board members told the speakers they could not engage in a back‑and‑forth response during the public‑comment period but thanked them for speaking.
The request arrived during a meeting that advanced budget and bond items; the transcript does not record a follow‑up motion, a formal district funding pledge, or a staff timeline to evaluate the playground request. The board did not vote on the playground during the meeting, so whether the district will match PTO funds or the next steps for site replacement is not specified.
