Opening Frisco ISD: District open enrollment program to generate $3M

Opening campuses up to students outside of the district will help fill classrooms with low enrollment. The district has about 900 open seats available across all the campuses from kindergarten through seventh grade, Leal said during a November board meeting.

The district received 646 transfer requests during its two Access Frisco application windows, which were open from Dec. 16 to Jan. 10 and Jan. 14 to 24. Of those applications, over 300 seats have been filled as of March 10.

The program will expand educational opportunities for children in the region as many families cannot afford to move into Frisco due to the higher cost of living, Leal said.

Older neighborhoods in the district are not bringing new students in, which prompted FISD officials to fill open spaces with students from surrounding areas.

Opening enrollment is a growing trend with 12 neighboring districts offering similar programs, including McKinney and Plano ISDs.

Access Frisco has a projected revenue of about $750,000 for every 100 students. The district projected the program revenue will be $3 million based on 330 students, officials said.

Students from 34 cities applied to attend FISD with the top 11 being:

• Little Elm
• Aubrey
• Frisco
• McKinney
• The Colony
• Oak Point
• Savannah
• Prosper
• Allen
• Celina
• Crossroads

Students in the program will be required to reapply every year. This allows the district to determine if students are still eligible for the program and meet FISD’s academic, behavioral and attendance standards, said Esther Kolni, the district’s legal counsel.

To be eligible for the program, students need:

• 90% or better attendance rate
• No persistent behavior concerns
• Satisfactory scores on standardized assessments

Families must also provide their own transportation to and from the campus.

The outlook

Frisco ISD is projected to lose 1,100 students in the 2025-26 school year, said Kimberly Smith, chief finance and strategy officer, during a Feb. 24 budget workshop.

The district is seeing fewer kindergartners than graduating seniors. Students in the district have also been lost to private and charter schools and homeschooling, Smith said.

The Access Frisco program is designed to use the staffing that is in place at campuses, Kolni said.

Student’s admission to a campus will not require the district to hire new staff or reassign existing staff, district officials said. The new students will help balance FISD’s class sizes and will help campuses maintain a high level of educational quality, Leal said.

“This program is designed to enhance, not disrupt, the experience for all students by optimizing available resources,” he said.

FISD intends to expand enrollment to include grades 8-12 in the 2026-27 school year.

The program will help maintain financial stability. In May, Frisco ISD officials adopted a budget with a shortfall potential of $30.8 million for the 2024-25 school year.

Several revenue-generating options were considered for FY 2024-25 and FY 2025-26, including a voter-approved tax rate election—which voters denied in November—that would have generated about $12 million. Opening the district’s enrollment was one option to generate revenue.

Looking ahead

FISD is projected to lose $17 million in revenue due to declining enrollment in the 2025-26 school year, according to preliminary budget development.

For the district’s operating budget, preliminary numbers show a $5.4 million revenue shortfall in 2025-26.

Inflation has increased by more than 20% since 2019—the last time Texas legislators increased the basic allotment, which is $6,160 per student. Cost for fuel has increased 37% while utilities have jumped 29% since 2020.

General insurance policies have the biggest inflationary change with a 179% increase, according to FISD data.

The Texas House and Senate have drafted budgets that could increase public education funding by about $4.9 billion for the 2025 legislative session.

Adjusting the basic allotment to restore the district’s buying power from 2019 would mean a $1,340 increase, Smith said.

While Access Frisco is one avenue the district will use to generate revenue, district officials have identified several cost-savings measures for the 2025-26 school year. One measure includes staffing efficiencies and restructuring, which is expected to save $15.2 million. This will not be a reduction in force, but instead restructures the available positions.

FISD’s board is expected to adopt the 2025-26 fiscal year budget in June.