Frisco ISD continues to focus on improving efficiency without sacrificing essential services or student experience.
As a steward of public funds, Frisco ISD works diligently to maintain fiscal responsibility without affecting the student experience. Those considerations are also part of developing the 2024-25 budget.
After another Texas legislative session passed without adequate funding for public schools to combat inflation, Frisco ISD has implemented a strategic plan aimed at reducing costs without compromising what makes the District special.
Through careful resource allocation and streamlined operations, Frisco ISD has identified areas where efficiency can be improved without sacrificing essential services.
Cutting costs
Frisco ISD recognizes the implications of cost cutting, like living with cuts over the long term, said Kimberly Smith, chief finance and strategy officer for FISD.
“We try hard to make sustainable decisions,” Smith said. “We don’t want to make a decision to add something we can’t sustain or cut something now that we may regret later.”
For 2023-24, FISD tightened the budget where it could without impacting operations in any significant way. For 2024-25, the same is being done, with a renewed focus on not impacting students.
Some of the ways the District has been and continues to cut costs include:
Rebalancing secondary classrooms so that students are evenly distributed. The District’s flat enrollment over the past year means classes can be scheduled and filled with better accuracy, not on estimates based on past rapid growth.
Making efficient decisions about open positions. Non-campus positions that open up due to retirement or career change are evaluated and job functions distributed to existing roles, as appropriate.
Frisco ISD had a $738 million budget for 2023-24, with revenue at $713 million. That worked out to a $24 million shortfall, or just 3% of the total budget.
Essential services
Essential services such as electricity, property insurance and facility maintenance won’t be part of any cost-cutting measures. These are costs that, while rising, can’t be controlled or trimmed.
Generating revenue
Budget discussions this spring will focus on revenue generation in addition to cost-saving measures. The District is actively exploring possibilities, some of which could be put into place quickly.
Coming up
The 2024-25 budget will be discussed in a series of upcoming Board workshops.
Find out more
See videos from past workshops: