Small
Schools
We want many things for our children in Frisco ISD –
quality education, good teachers, safe environments, and
excellent facilities, just to name a few. In addition to
all of these characteristics, we want small schools with
good student/teacher ratios. For our elementary students we
want smaller sized classrooms so that children have more
individualized attention; for middle and high school
students we also want smaller schools so that more students
have more opportunities to excel at academics, sports and
arts. The ultimate goal of small schools at all levels is
to build strong self-confident students who in turn become
strong self-confident adults.
This is a very expensive proposition. According to the
Frisco ISD State of the Schools Report, Frisco ISD plans to
reach 44 elementary schools (we currently have 25), 14
middle schools (we currently have 7), and 7 high schools
(we currently have 4). Frisco voters have approved over
$1.5 billion in bonds since 2000 for the purpose of
building these new schools.
In Frisco, the wealthiest city in the wealthiest county in
the State of Texas, we should be able to easily provide our
children with so many state-of-the-art schools, small
classrooms, outstanding education and more. Frisco median
family income is estimated to be in excess of $100,000. Our
median home price is in excess of $257,000. Our balance of
residential and strong commercial properties gives Frisco
ISD a preliminary property valuation in 2008 of more than
$17 billion, in increase of almost $3 billion from May
2007.
However, there are numerous drains on this revenue. While
this property valuation is expected to generate $158
million in tax revenue for Frisco ISD this year, more than
$11 million of that tax revenue must be returned to the
state under Chapter 41 of the Texas Education Code to help
offset the costs of poorer districts across the state that
do not have the financial resources that we have in Frisco.
As state regulation of school funding increasingly relies
on wealthy districts such as Frisco, the challenge that
remains before us is this: will the increasing amount we
pay to the state each year and other financial obligations
jeopardize our ability to implement the small school vision
as the city continues to grow?
To date Frisco ISD has created some unique partnerships
that help not only reduce the impact of the large amount of
debt service it must incur from school construction, but it
helps reduce the impact that this debt has on the tax rate
of Frisco citizens. In the late 1990s, the City of Frisco,
Frisco ISD and other public partners collaborated to create
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) zones. By investing in real
estate development within the zone (such as the Dr. Pepper
Star Center) not only are facilities created which can be
used by Frisco ISD schools for sports, arts or special
events (thus saving the cost that Frisco ISD would have to
bear by building just a basic stadium or ice rink), Frisco
ISD as a district is able to capture revenue from a portion
of the increased real estate value within the TIF zone.
From Frisco ISD’s TIF zone partnerships, we as a district
receive a return of $13 million per year. $3 million of
this return must remain in the TIF to service debt on the
bonds supporting the facilities and infrastructure while
$10 million every year is transferred back to the FISD Debt
Service fund to help reduce other school debt.
However, laws have changed since the late 1990s and Frisco
ISD will not have the same large dollar, large return
opportunities it had in the past. Frisco must add to its
investment portfolio in more creative and diverse ways such
that we can:
- Provide the desired number of small schools at the planned rate
- Offer students the best and most flexible academic opportunities
- Provide the best mix of teachers
- Provide our teachers with the best resources
- Continue to reduce our school district debt
- Keep ISD tax rates as low as possible