McKinney ISD officials receive waivers for staff development minutes, state testing days

McKinney ISD officials received approval from the Texas Education Agency for three waivers submitted for the 2026-27 school year.

The McKinney ISD board of trustees approved three waiver applications to ask the TEA for exceptions related to staff development, testing schedules and foreign exchange students at an April 20 meeting.

A closer look

McKinney ISD has submitted these waivers in past school years to align with district practices, according to district documents.

The waivers include:

• Staff development minutes waiver: This would allow the district to use up to 2,100 minutes of instructional time for staff training designed to improve student performance.
• Modified schedules for state testing days: This would allow campuses to adjust schedules for students who are not participating in state testing.
• Limit to foreign exchange students: District officials are requesting a cap of five foreign exchange students per high school for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years.

All three waivers have already been approved by the TEA, according to its website.

Also of note

The board of trustees also received a budget update at its April 20 meeting from Chief Financial Officer Marlene Harbeson.

Harbeson’s presentation included preliminary property tax value estimations from the Collin Central Appraisal District, which showed slowing growth in property tax values for homes within McKinney ISD, which could result in a larger budget shortfall for the district.