Frisco ISD Passes $751.9M Budget With Raises as Enrollment Decline Forces a Rethink
- Jun 18
- 6 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
FRISCO, TEXAS: The Frisco Independent School District closed out its fiscal year on a note of hard-won stability, with the board of trustees adopting a balanced $751.9 million budget for 2026-27 at its June 15 meeting, the district's second consecutive year avoiding a deficit even as falling enrollment continues to squeeze revenue from the once-fastest-growing school system in Texas.
The board approved the budget at the district's administration center at 5515 Ohio Drive, the operational hub for a system that now spans roughly 75 square miles across Collin and Denton Counties, serving not just Frisco but portions of McKinney, Plano, and Little Elm. With more than 60,000 students, Frisco ISD is the largest A-rated school district in Texas, and decisions made in that Ohio Drive boardroom ripple across some of the fastest-growing residential corridors in North Texas, from the established neighborhoods near Eldorado Parkway to the newer rooftops going up along the Dallas North Tollway and Panther Creek.
A Balanced Book, But a Smaller One
The numbers tell a story of careful trimming. According to the Frisco ISD board's adopted spending plan, the 2026-27 budget matches $751.9 million in revenue with $751.9 million in expenditures, accompanied by a $25.3 million child nutrition fund and a $197.6 million debt service fund. That revenue figure is a notable step down from the roughly $771.7 million the district brought in during the current fiscal year, according to district projections reviewed by the board in May.
The root cause is straightforward: fewer students in seats means less state funding. Public school finance in Texas operates on a fixed-income formula tied directly to enrollment and attendance, so when expenses rise and enrollment falls, districts absorb the gap. Frisco ISD's enrollment has been shrinking since a 2022-23 peak, and the trend is not reversing. The number of students graduating from FISD each year now outpaces incoming enrollments, according to the district.
Enrollment for [2025]-26 declined by more than we expected. We expect further decline in [2026]-27.
That quote from FISD Chief Finance and Strategy Officer Kimberly Smith, delivered during a May 7 budget workshop, summarizes the central challenge facing the Collin County district. Even so, Smith told the board that the district's Access Frisco program, which allows kindergarten through seventh-grade students from surrounding communities to transfer into FISD schools, has helped offset some of the revenue losses.
Raises for Every Employee, With One Cap
Despite the financial headwinds, the board approved a compensation plan that gives every employee a 2% raise, with raises for central administrators capped at $2,000, according to the district. Special education teachers will also see stipend increases under the new plan. The district's annual benchmarking exercise, which compared FISD salaries against 19 peer districts across the DFW region, found that new teachers in Frisco earn salaries within about $300 of the local market median, while educators who reach the 10-year mark edge past it.
Workforce reductions needed to balance the books will be handled through attrition and restructuring, not layoffs, according to FISD officials. Savings will also come from staffing adjustments tied to enrollment balancing across campuses and changes to the middle school instructional coaching model. That approach contrasts sharply with what other North Texas districts are facing, Mesquite ISD announced $24 million in cuts including staff layoffs for the same school year, a reminder of how difficult this fiscal environment is across the broader Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.
A New Fee, a New Reality
One of the more tangible changes families will notice next fall is a new $20 annual Chromebook protection fee for secondary students. The fee, approved as part of the budget package, functions like device insurance, covering the cost of the first accidental repair. Students who do not pay it will be responsible for the full cost of any repair or replacement. A discounted rate will be available for students on free or reduced-price lunch. It is a small line item in a $752 million budget, but it signals a broader shift: FISD is finding new revenue streams wherever it can.
Frisco Flex Arrives in August, and It Is Bigger Than Just Frisco
The budget drama plays out against a backdrop of genuine innovation. This August, Frisco ISD will launch Frisco Flex, a new virtual high school program for grades 9-12 that is open not just to local families but to students across Texas. The program offers two tracks: a fully online path to graduation taught by FISD-certified teachers, and a hybrid model that blends virtual coursework with on-campus instruction for students who take a minimum of four courses online.
The program is designed to be a revenue play as much as a student-support tool. With local enrollment shrinking, recruiting high school students from McKinney, Prosper, Little Elm, The Colony and beyond, students who would pay tuition or bring state funding with them, gives the district a new pool to draw from. FISD has already struck its first external partnership under the Frisco Flex umbrella, reaching an agreement with Elite Hockey Academy in March to embed a certified district teacher at the academy's training facilities so student-athletes can pursue elite competition without leaving the FISD academic ecosystem.
Frisco Flex allows student-athletes to pursue elite training opportunities while staying connected to the strong academics, relationships and supports that help them succeed.
That statement from the district captures the dual ambition behind the program: serve existing students better while simultaneously casting a wider net across North Texas and the state. The cost of the on-site teaching position will be shared between the district and Elite Hockey Academy through the 2028-29 school year, when the academy assumes full program costs, according to FISD.
New Superintendent, New Chapter
All of this is landing in the lap of new superintendent Dr. Todd Fouche, who was unanimously approved by the FISD board of trustees on April 3. Fouche, who previously served as the district's deputy superintendent, replaced retiring Superintendent Dr. Mike Waldrip, who led the district for nine years before stepping down effective June 30, 2026. Fouche was not an outsider, he helped shape the Frisco Flex concept and Access Frisco enrollment strategy while serving as deputy superintendent, and he publicly acknowledged the competitive landscape the district now operates in. His challenge heading into the 2026-27 school year is managing a shrinking footprint while launching programs ambitious enough to grow it back.
Why It Matters
For years Frisco ISD was treated like an unstoppable force, a district that opened new schools the way other cities open coffee shops. The fact that enrollment is now declining, and that the district has to introduce Chromebook fees and compete for students across Texas just to balance its books, is a genuinely significant shift in the story of this city. The balanced budget is real and worth recognizing. But the harder question, how a district built around growth sustains quality in a contraction, is the one that Frisco families, from Eldorado Parkway to Legacy Drive, are going to be living with for years to come. Frisco Flex is an inventive answer. Whether it is a big enough one remains to be seen.
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