Frisco ISD officials have filed a waiver with the Texas Education Agency to retain its state funding in spite of missed days during the winter storm in late January.
What happened
The waiver would allow the district to not hold classes during the bad-weather makeup days scheduled in the district's 2025-26 academic calendar. The district's board of trustees approved filing for waivers in a 6-1 vote during a Feb. 9 meeting. Trustee Stephanie Elad voted against the waivers, citing concerns for a loss of instructional time when not using the makeup days allocated in the calendar.
Associate Deputy Superintendent Wes Cunningham explained that the district historically has low attendance among students and staff on bad-weather makeup days when the district holds classes. Due to this reason, district officials recommended applying for a waiver, he said.
A Missed Day waiver from the TEA would give FISD full average daily attendance funding for the missed days, per district documents. State funding for a school district is based on the average number of students attending school daily, rather than overall enrollment.
In case you missed it
FISD officials closed district schools Jan. 26-29 due to the winter weather and persisting poor road conditions. For Jan. 26-27, the district will not need to utilize bad-weather makeup days or apply for a waiver, as the district had enough banked minutes to still meet state requirements for instructional time.
One more thing
FISD staff members who worked to clear district facilities after the winter storm in January will receive premium pay for their work.
The district’s board of trustees approved paying employees time and a half for their work while campuses were closed during the Feb. 9 meeting.
