As responsible stewards of public funds, District staff made cuts and added revenue opportunities to turn around three years of deficit budgets.
By Frisco ISD Communication
The Frisco ISD Board of Trustees has approved the first balanced budget in three years, as well as a compensation plan with raises for all staff.
The 2025-26 budget is not only balanced, but also includes a $9 million surplus. That additional revenue will bolster the District’s fund balance, or “rainy day” fund, which has been used to sustain deficit budgets and annual pay raises.
The adopted budget includes:
$771.69 million in revenue
$762.68 million in spending
Find details in the 2025-26 Budget Book.
The approved compensation plan includes raises for all staff, including increases for teachers specified by the recently signed HB 2. Frisco ISD will also increase contributions to employee health plans by $25 per month.
Cost savings
The District has been working toward a balanced budget for years, identifying cost savings in personnel and programming in several areas. Some changes have already been made and have resulted in a balanced 2024-25 budget as well.
Student learning has remained Frisco ISD’s top priority, and changes were identified that would have the least impact on the classroom.
Personnel: Adjustments due to enrollment decline, program restructuring and eliminating long-term vacancies resulted in $21.8 million in savings.
Programs: Revisions to career and technical student organization travel budgets, District events, extracurricular funding, and a suspension of 401(a) matching contributions saved an additional $2.11 million.
New revenue
The adopted budget identifies new revenue sources to offset expenditures.
Formula revenue: Thanks to HB2, the District will receive an additional $30+ million over what was initially expected for 2025-26 — a 5.7% increase — through a combination of local property taxes and state aid.
TIRZ funding: Revenue from the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone has been shifted from construction to operational use. This change provided the District an alternative funding source for items such as property insurance and utilities, freeing up funds to maintain programs and support student learning.
Contributing factors
Three key factors affecting the budget were:
Enrollment. Student enrollment figures are beginning to decline, and the District is graduating more students than enrolling new ones.
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 89th Texas Legislature made a historic investment in public schools, allocating about $8.5 billion over the next biennium. That funding is largely directed to specific areas, such as teacher pay raises, school safety and early education. A lot is still unknown until the Texas Education Agency enacts the formula changes this fall.
Learn more
Trustees worked with District staff in a series of public workshops, identifying priorities and sharing ideas for fiscal responsibility that preserved student opportunities. The approved budget is the result of that process. Get details about the budget development process.