Frisco ISD opens to out-of-district students to fill budget shortfall
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For the first time, Frisco ISD will enroll out-of-district students next year to boost its state funding and trim its potential $30.81 million shortfall.
Why it matters: Districts statewide are grappling with large deficits amid increasing operational costs and, in some cases, declining enrollment.
- Texas lawmakers' push to establish a voucher program to help families pay for private school could exacerbate budget shortfalls in public schools.
Threat level: The Texas Legislature hasn't increased its per-student funding for school districts since the 2019-20 school year. Public educators were pushing for increases when the Legislature last met in 2023, but the effort failed.
- At least four North Texas districts have voted to close some schools to save money. Frisco ISD is trying to fill its vacant seats instead.
Zoom in: Frisco anticipates 900 vacancies in kindergarten through seventh grade next year. Filling those seats could generate an additional $6.75 million in revenue, per a November trustees meeting.
How it works: The 67,000-student district has chosen 16 elementary and middle schools for its Access Frisco program. Selected families will be responsible for transportation to and from school.
- Students seeking a transfer into Frisco ISD have to be Texas residents, have good attendance in the past two years and passing grades in core subjects.
- The district says it doesn't plan to hire any new teachers or staff for the new admits.
Context: The district didn't include the older grades for the program because of complexities created by transfer credits, UIL eligibility and college-level courses in those grades, a spokesperson tells Axios.
The intrigue: The priority application window opened Monday and the district has already received hundreds of applications this week.
- It closes Jan. 10. The regular application window is Jan. 14-24. This page describes how enrollment will work.
What they're saying: "If we don't do this, we're going to have some issues that we would rather not deal with in terms of campuses being under capacity. We've seen other districts around us having to close campuses," Frisco ISD trustee Stephanie Elad said during the November meeting.
Between the lines: The district plans to evaluate the program after the first year and tweak it as needed.
Zoom out: Dallas and Plano ISDs allow out-of-district transfers for kindergarten through 12th grade, based on availability.
What we're watching: Whether state lawmakers will increase school funding when they meet again in 2025.