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The Frisco ISD Board of Trustees unanimously approved the 2024-25 budget and compensation plan this month.
Trustees approved a deficit budget, with a 3% raise for all employees from the District’s rainy day funds. The adopted budget includes:
$721.69 million in revenue
$752.50 million in spending
A $30.81 million deficit, or 4% of the budget
The 2024-25 budget development process began last fall. In a series of five budget workshops this spring, Chief Finance and Strategy Officer Kimberly Smith presented the Board and community with information on the school funding formula, critical factors influencing the budget and the budget process itself.
Frisco ISD is committed to moving back to a balanced budget. The 2024-25 deficit budget underscores the complex realities of educational funding and the importance of preserving what makes Frisco ISD unique.
Three key factors affecting the budget were:
Enrollment. Student enrollment figures have flattened, although Frisco ISD doesn't know how long that will last. The District’s attendance rate has also fallen, a trend seen both across Texas and nationally. Texas public school funding is based on student attendance.
The economy. Inflation, employment competition and other factors like utility rate hikes and rising insurance premiums have put a strain on the operating budgets of every school district in Texas.
The Texas Legislature. The funding formula has not been substantially updated since 2019. The Legislature appropriated $4 billion in new public education funding, but a bill to spend the money wasn’t passed in the 2023 legislative session.
A priority in the budget development process was preserving student experience, which is the reason so many families come to Frisco ISD. In survey after survey, parents have reiterated the importance of Frisco ISD’s student opportunity model, where smaller schools mean more students can participate in sports, fine arts and academic offerings, and have the chance to lead in those activities.
Preserving that student experience is key, with the understanding that Frisco ISD cannot sustain it without additional help from the Legislature.
With that in mind, as part of the budget development process, $16.9 million in cost-saving measures that have the least impact on students were identified, including:
$8.9 million in staffing efficiencies. Full-time teaching positions have been eliminated through attrition in elementary to account for an enrollment decline, and in secondary to balance class loads. At the central office level, positions have been eliminated and job functions distributed to existing roles, as appropriate.
$7.8 million in payroll efficiencies. Savings have been realized through turnover and fringe costs.
$500,000 in campus per-pupil allotment. This is an adjustment for lower-than-anticipated enrollment.
Other cost-cutting options were presented at the budget workshops. These options were limited to items that don’t impact the student opportunity model or FISD’s ability to support future-ready learners.
During the budget development process, Frisco ISD compared itself to nine similar districts across Texas. Some of the key findings in that benchmarking:
Frisco ISD’s peers:
Have larger low-socioeconomic populations, which qualifies them for more grant funding, including ESSER funds.
Spent, on average, $1,373 more per student in FY 2023 than Frisco ISD did, and 84% of that funding came from special revenue (grant) funds.
Frisco ISD:
Spent an average of $143 more per student on direct instruction than our peers in 2023.
Spent more on extracurriculars because of our student opportunity model.
Spends significantly less on operations than our peers because our buildings are (on average) newer and more energy efficient.
Spends about the same per student (3% of budget) on general administrative costs as our peers.
View the 2023 Popular Annual Financial Report.