McKinney ISD has seen a 65.8% increase in its special education student population in the last decade, according to data from the Texas Education Agency.
Special education services can support students with various disabilities, such as autism or emotional and intellectual disabilities. McKinney ISD offers specially designed instruction for eligible students, as well as access to instructional services like speech therapy, vision services, adapted physical education and more, the district’s website states.
“It’s our obligation to educate every child in McKinney ISD regardless of any special needs they might have,” MISD school board President Amy Dankel said.
While officials don’t point to a specific cause for the increased special education enrollment, the growth has increased the district’s costs.
"As McKinney ISD continues to grow, so does our responsibility to ensure that every student receives the support they need to thrive,” MISD Superintendent Shawn Pratt said in an emailed statement. “We have seen a significant increase in our special education population, and we are responding with expanded resources—including additional staffing, additional facilities, and increased budget allocations.”
In a nutshell
While the district’s overall enrollment has remained steady, the special education student population has grown to over 4,200 in the 2024-25 school year. In a May 2024 school board meeting, Assistant Superintendent of Business Operations Dennis Womack called the growth “significant.”
“As we graduate kids out, the kids that are coming in and replacing our graduates ... are more likely to be special [education],” Womack said at the meeting.
Medical providers are also seeing increasing needs that coincide with special education populations, such as autism and learning difficulties, said Dr. Fadiyla Dopwell, a developmental-behavioral pediatrics provider at Medical City Children’s Hospital Developmental Center and Pediatrix Neonatology of Texas.
Dopwell said diagnostic trends include an increased frequency of autism and ADHD diagnoses, as well as learning difficulties, which encompasses a number of different causes such as intellectual disabilities or specific learning disorders. While research doesn’t point to any specific single cause for this trend, Dopwell said awareness has brought more attention to these conditions. Parents may also be more receptive to a diagnosis for their children, she said.
“If the trends are because we’re able to identify things more, that’s great because ... it means we’re able to support our families,” Dopwell said.
To address the growing special education student population, district officials began investing in a stipend for special education teachers.
Dankel said this initiative, led by the board of trustees, has grown over the past five years. A $5,000 stipend for various types of special education teachers was listed as an incentive in a June 2025 district news release. Dankel said the stipend has been an effective recruitment tool since its implementation.
“It’s just very difficult to obtain qualified special education teachers,” she said. “Not only do you have to have the appropriate education for that, but you have got to have a heart for that.”
Dr. Gracie Whitley, Region 10 Education Service Center’s director of Special Populations, said she has seen similar growth trends in the organization’s 10-county North Texas service area. The organization has also seen increased requests for academic and behavioral support in recent years, she said, including teacher coaching. Whitley said the organization takes an individual approach to supporting specific school districts.
Adjusting to the program growth has also sparked a change in the district’s approach to campus capacities, Dankel said. District officials more frequently assess a facility’s functional capacity rather than its designed capacity, she said.
The functional capacity reflects reduced class sizes for special education classrooms, which often have a fewer number of students per teacher than general education classrooms, Womack said.
“Special education students deserve and need that level of instruction to meet their accommodations,” Womack said. “A large rise in our [special education] population means we are expending more resources to educate our students.”
The district’s annual budget has seen cost escalations related to special education program growth for the past two years, district documents state.
The stipends being offered contributed to the cost, Dankel said, as well as positions being added. While board members have allotted funding to salary increases for all teachers, Womack said the stipends being offered specifically for some special education teaching positions helps to bring the compensation up to market rates for these roles and keeps the district remain competitive in teacher recruitment.
“We have to continue to retain our great special education teachers,” Dankel said.
A near-final summary of the district’s finances from the TEA showed that the district allotted $29.25 million for special education in the 2024-25 school year, totaling about $6,943 per student. This amount was up from about $26.43 million in the 2023-24 school year, according to TEA reports. Texas school districts are currently funded at a basic allotment of $6,160 per student served, but funding for special education students is increased based on a weighted system, the TEA’s website states.
MISD budget impacts for special education programs:
- 2023-24 school year: $3.2 million budget cost for program growth and 63 positions added
- 2024-25 school year: $1.9 million budget cost for program growth and 18 positions added
“Our commitment remains the same: to provide an outstanding educational experience for all students, including those who require specialized services. Every student deserves access to high-quality learning, and we are proud to invest in the systems and people that make that possible," Pratt said.
The outlook
Monica Piper, founder and CEO of Stepping Stones ABA Therapy, said she has also seen an increased need for services for school-age children with disabilities in the area. The business, which provides applied behavioral analysis therapy for individuals with autism and other special needs, expanded to include a McKinney location in October 2024.
Piper attributes the growth to a variety of factors including environment, genetics and awareness, but also noted that McKinney and neighboring cities are a popular choice for parents looking for a school district for their children with special education needs.
Piper and Dopwell both cited the importance of collaboration between providers and outside experts with district staff when supporting a special education student. Both have worked to advocate for families as they pursue special education accommodations for their children in a public school.
Piper said she would like to see school districts such as MISD more frequently allow outside professionals such as the staff at her center to collaborate in the classroom.
“Sometimes it's hard to find a really strong teacher or experienced teacher or aide,” she said. “If we can assist in some of that, then that would be great.”
Access to special education services, especially early intervention programs, can provide long-term support for a student academically, but also emotionally and socially, Dopwell said.
“The resources at school and feeling that the school is supporting the children has a bigger impact than just the eight hours that the child might be there,” she said.
