February School Board meeting: PTO pushes for playground funding, food service updates, and building renovation

By Judy ArneyThe Wabasha-Kellogg School Board held its regu-lar meeting on February 19. Agenda items included the school year budget, renova-tion updates, and strategic plan updates. The meeting also featured two public comments from Kala Koch and Lunch-time Solutions.Koch, speaking as President of the Parent Teacher Orga-nization (PTO), addressed the board regarding ongoing efforts to secure new play-ground equipment for students in grades 4-6. She explained that the PTO had previous-ly raised concerns about playground needs during referendum discussions, and the organization remained hopeful for a new playground when the referendum passed. Their optimism turned to dis-appointment, however, when the playground project wasn't included in the final budget allocation.Despite following proper protocols and attending refer-endum meetings to voice their concerns, Koch expressed frustration that their request hadn't been included in the referendum. "It's not too late to listen to us now," she stated, pointing out that the proposed playground equipment, es-timated at $108,000, would represent less than 1% of the total referendum budget.During her presentation, Koch highlighted the critical role of recess and playground activities in student develop-ment. She pointed out that the current playground equip-ment, unchanged for 25 years, has deteriorated to an unsuit-able condition. The PTO's research into playground improvements showed data from the CDC: obstacle course features can enhance balance, and cognitive functions (in-cluding attention, memory, and decision-making), and boost test scores by 15-35%.

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