From an overflow of companies relocating headquarters or expanding in the city to the announcement of the new Universal theme park, Frisco’s skyrocketing growth brought excitement as well as headaches. Residents and city officials alike are adapting to the fast-paced change, and schools are no exception. Four of Frisco ISD’s most popular schools are maxed out for the 2023-2024 school year.
On May 30, 2023, Chief Finance and Strategy Officer Kimberly Smith presented the 2023-24 budget proposal explaining that the anticipated revenue generated from increased enrollment will not be enough to achieve a balanced budget for the upcoming 2023-24 school year. In return, the budget for the upcoming school year will result in a deficit.
But the deficit is not the only issue heading to Frisco ISD. With the population growth that new businesses and residents bring along, school enrollment will increase. According to TEA’s school report card, Frisco ISD enrolled 65,617 students in the 2021-2022 school year. And the trend is expected to continue. The district’s demographic study anticipates that in the next 10 years, the district will see an increase in student enrollment of 6,000 in the more conservative forecast and 10,000 in the least moderate growth projection.
The district has plans for new schools to ease overcrowding and keep meeting the needs of students and their families, but the effects of the population growth can already be felt by residents and newcomers.
According to Frisco ISD’s site, four of the most popular schools are at capacity and students living near them enrolling for the 2023-2024 school year will need to attend different schools. The affected schools are Nelson Middle School, Lebanon Trail High School, Reedy High School and Wakeland High School.
“In order to effectively and efficiently utilize space, more than one school can become a consideration for a neighborhood/area based on its location,” reads the district’s site. “ This means that during the boundary modification process, neighborhoods may be moved to existing schools or to campuses that are not the closest in proximity.”
“From my understanding, basically anybody who moves in now will not be grandfathered into those particular schools,” Lauran Ituarte of Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty in Plano told Candy’s Dirt. “Even if the family leaving… if there were three kids in the household, there will not be three new spots. They will be bused to different schools within Frisco ISD, and some of these schools are quite far away from where they’re actually living.”
In 2022, Allen ISD faced a similar situation when the district decided to redraw attendance boundaries to the dismay of parents.
“I would be advising my clients to look into calling the ISD to find out if there are proposed zone changes, or if there’s a zone change already,” continued Ituarte, adding that “you really can’t pick a ‘bad’ school in Frisco, but there are the preferred ones.”
