Frisco ISD Board of Trustees approves 2024-25 budget with deficit

The Frisco ISD Board of Trustees has unanimously approved the 2024-25 budget and compensation plan, which includes a 3% raise for all employees. The adopted budget includes $721.69 million in revenue, $752.50 million in spending, and a $30.81 million deficit, or 4% of the budget.

The development process for the 2024-25 budget began last fall. Chief Finance and Strategy Officer Kimberly Smith conducted five budget workshops this spring, presenting information on the school funding formula, critical factors influencing the budget, and the budget process itself to the Board and community.

Frisco ISD is committed to returning to a balanced budget. The 2024-25 deficit budget highlights the complex realities of educational funding and emphasizes the importance of preserving what makes Frisco ISD unique.

Three key factors affecting the budget were enrollment trends, economic conditions, and legislative actions. Student enrollment figures have flattened, although it's uncertain how long this trend will last. Inflation, employment competition, utility rate hikes, rising insurance premiums have strained operating budgets across Texas schools. Additionally, while the Legislature appropriated $4 billion in new public education funding in 2019, a bill to spend this money was not passed in the 2023 legislative session.

Preserving student experience was a priority during the budget development process. Parents have repeatedly emphasized their appreciation for Frisco ISD’s student opportunity model in surveys. This model allows more students to participate in sports, fine arts and academic offerings due to smaller school sizes.

As part of this process, $16.9 million in cost-saving measures that minimally impact students were identified:

$8.9 million from staffing efficiencies such as eliminating full-time teaching positions through attrition.

$7.8 million from payroll efficiencies realized through turnover and fringe costs.

$500,000 from campus per-pupil allotment adjustments due to lower-than-anticipated enrollment.

During the budget development process, Frisco ISD compared itself to nine similar districts across Texas. Some key findings from this benchmarking exercise included that Frisco ISD spent an average of $143 more per student on direct instruction than its peers in 2023 and spends significantly less on operations due to newer and more energy-efficient buildings.

Frisco ISD received an “A” rating for financial management and continues to make sustainability efforts to save costs.