Frisco ISD has proposed a new 2024 Bond Vatre which the district and the so called “Vote For Frisco ISD PAC” are pushing hard for.  They want us to vote on four (4) propositions that they claim will fund important projects.  What is a VATRE?  A VATRE is triggered when a board adopts a tax rate that exceeds the district’s voter-approval tax rate (VATR). The VATR is determined for each district by a statutory formula and is the highest tax rate a board can adopt without holding an election. A district’s adopted tax rate has two components: its debt service rate or its interest and sinking (I&S) rate, and its maintenance and operations (M&O) rate.

While a bond election authorizes the issuance of bonds to generate funds for a district’s buildings and infrastructure and to be repaid from I&S revenue, a VATRE approves an increase in the district’s M&O tax rate, which can only be used for items related to programs and people, such as teacher salaries and stipends, training programs, educational programs, and other student activities, such as extracurricular programs.  Confused yet? 

The school district and the Vote For PAC are selling it to you on the basis that the priority has shifted from building new schools to maintaining the district’s existing facilities.  A key piece of the proposed bond is refreshing aging schools and the supposedly includes a refresh for 20 Frisco ISD campuses that are 25 years old. The VATER portion according to the district’s website is needed to increase teacher pay and be more competitive.   The district claims this will affect every campus, but they promised similar things in the 2018 bond, and we question if the money was used as they promised. Now they are back, asking us to trust them again but remember they DO NOT HAVE TO USE IT FOR THE REASONS THEY ARE ASKING FOR NOW.  That means you can vote for it and then they can change how they or what they use the money for just like they did in 2018.

Getting the information out to the public about the upcoming propositions is not cheap.  In fact, principals and the district are trying every avenue possible to get the information out, from using the PTA’s to hold informational sessions to ADVERTISING!  Community Impact is one of the largest community papers for Frisco and for a long time we have thought they are in bed with Frisco political powers.  We have never seen them write a hard-hitting story or an investigative story, instead most of the articles are “watered down” informational pieces.  We have always had one burning question when it comes to Community Impact, how much does it cost to advertise during campaign season.  I mean we know Jeff Cheney can afford it because he always owns the back cover for his business – but at what cost?

We started looking into these questions awhile back and set what we had found to the side until we saw a post on social media asking, “How much did Frisco ISD pay for the four-color glossy sticky notes located front and center in the recent Community Impact?”   The paper has several different avenues of advertising such as an insert, sticky notes, direct mail postcards, online presence, and in-paper display ads.  If our research is right, we can tell you! 

We were sent a copy of their Frisco Elections Advertising PDF and according to the document, Community Impact goes out to 85,264 mailboxes in Frisco and their online presence in Frisco hits about 10,176 daily subscribers.  Not bad coverage for a city with voter apathy! You can also bet they are working their inside connections in the Desis community as they alone can decide this vote.

Drum Roll Please…… Sticky Notes cost $0.15 each!  If the district did 85,264 sticky notes to the Frisco readers, then the district spent $12,789.60 for one paper.  Additionally, inserts are $0.15 each, sticky/insert combo is $0.25/set, and direct mail postcards are $0.26 each.  If they decided to use the website ads on communityimpact.com it would cost $300/month per market for 30 days.  If they choose to advertise via the morning impact email newsletter that goes out to 10,176 subscribers, it will cost $500 for the top of the newsletter and $450 for the middle of the newsletter.

We have a lot of questions:

Should the district be paying $13k for advertising when there is a Vote For PAC who has organized?  

Are they advertising clearly, correctly and honestly?  For example, on the districts website it reads “100% of bond funds stay in the district and is not subject to recapture by the state.”  Will it really stay “IN THE DISTRICT” such as our schools and facilities, or will any of it (even $1 dollar) go to one of the public-private partnerships they have?  You might have heard the City of Frisco approved a $182 million renovation for Toyota Stadium, but did you know Frisco ISD pays part of that bill?  The recent headlines don’t alert you that the ISD is paying part of that BIG BILL!  

That is right, $77 million of the $182 million comes from the public-private partnership TIRZ for the City of Frisco and Frisco ISD.  They just did stadium improvements in 2016 for Toyota Stadium.  I thought the point of all these public-private partnerships was to make money not just spending it.  They also have a TIRZ / public-private partnership for the PGA Golf Course, Ford Center, Expansion of Dr. Pepper Arena, etc.  Read more about it on their website.

While they are claiming 100% of the bonds are staying in the district, they are not telling you the VATRE is subject to recapture.  According to Community Impact, “the new tax rate would generate an additional $11.5 million in revenue for the district. In total, the increase would generate $19.5 million in revenue, but $8 million would go to the state in recapture.”   But they are not advertising that, are they?   FISD voters last approved raising the M&O portion of the tax rate by $0.13 per $100 valuation in 2018.

We are just diving into the ISD stuff but as of right now we are not sold on voting for this bond/vatre.  Just a few concerns include, we question if Waldrip the Super Intendent is the right might to lead the district as the last city he was in didn’t want him.  We also don’t trust the school board President who has a history of personal financial problems to oversee tax dollars.  We also don’t believe Frisco ISD is being  smart, transparent or effective with the money they have now and we are unsure if throwing more money in the pot is the best solution.  Last but not least our ISD needs to explain if any of this money will ever be used for public-private partnerships because if it will that makes it a no for us!

We will be back as we keep diving into this!