Frisco ISD Budget Proposes Cuts to Support Staff

Frisco Independent School District school board members, staff and parents received their first look at the proposed 2017-2018 budget Monday evening, which includes cuts to support staff.

For the last eight months, a group of 28 parents, staff and community members has worked on a priorities-based budget to find ways to save money or generate additional revenue for a district facing a $30 million shortfall by 2020.

According to the district's chief financial officer, the shortfall is not a "budget problem," but a "revenue problem."

Since 2006, the district said it has lost $100 million in state funding.

Monday evening, school board members heard the first steps in recommended cuts to bridge the budget gap.

The recommendations include eliminating K-12 library aide positions and reducing the number of technology specialist positions to save approximately $1.75 million.

There was also a recommendation made to reduce the discretionary "per pupil allotment" by 15 percent to save $1 million. As of now, elementary students receive $105 per student, which would be reduced to $89. For middle schoolers, that number would go from $115 to $98. At the high school level, the reduction would be from $155 per pupil to $132.

Frisco ISD is nationally recognized and the fastest-growing school district in Texas.

The reputation is what drew the Mahankali family from Chicago to Frisco with their two elementary-aged children.

"I did research, a lot of research. I spoke to my friends living in Frisco, and I did my due diligence back in Chicago," said mother Ashwini Mahankali on why she chose to relocate to North Texas. "The main reason was the school district."

It's the same story for Brittanie Summons and her two children.

"The school districts down south where we came from were kind of lacking in resources, and we came here for a fresh start," Summons said. "It's exciting for me as a mom to see them get excited to go to school."

The budget will be finalized in May.

School board members will vote to adopt it in June.