Where does a school district’s money come from?  School funding is largely in the hands of states. The primary job of the state finance system should be to account for differences between the districts in the cost of providing the right educational quality level, and then to distribute the funds.  About 30 years ago the Texas Supreme Court ordered the Texas Legislature to fix the state’s unequal school funding system.  The fix by lawmakers is often called the “Robin Hood” recapture plan.   In 2023, three school districts voted to stop paying the recapture money to the state and two of those districts are here in North Texas.  Carroll ISD and Keller ISD led the way and if other districts followed it would force the legislature to look at more options. If you received one of the recent postcards, they sure look misleading!

So, what is the funding system?  According to a 2019 Texas Tribune article, “Texas guarantees every school district a certain amount of funding for each student. State lawmakers determine the base number per student, which is currently $5,140. Many educators argue that the state should regularly increase that base number, at least with inflation, to get all schools the money they need. But the amount has not changed in four years.”  What many Texans don’t realize is that Texas consistently ranks in the bottom 10 to 12 states for education spending per student.  According to an article by Texas Standard, Texas hasn’t increased school funding since 2019.  It goes on to say to keep up with inflation over the last four years, state lawmakers would need to add almost $1200 per student. Two North Texas districts, Carroll ISD and Keller ISD, led the way and if other districts followed it would force the legislature to look at more options.

Remember when we were told if we approved the Texas Lotto, it would support education, where is all the money from the profits of these scratch-offs and power ball drawings?  The truth is only 7% of the funding by the state for the state’s public school system comes from the Texas Lotto. However, the Texas Lottery is a better wordsmith to perfume the pig. The Texas Lotto website reads, “The Texas Lottery Supports Texas Education. Since 1997, the Texas Lottery has contributed $33.9 billion to the Foundation School Fund, which supports public education in Texas.”

While funding is an important part of the discussion so are the spending habits of some of these districts.  How did our school district choose to spend their money?  Are the funds being distributed properly?  Are they spending based on a well-thought-out budget?  We decided to investigate the spending habits via the Frisco ISD Check Registers on the district’s website. The district has 4 funds: The General Fund, Child Nutrition, Debt Service, and Capital Projects.   We started with the General Fund!

$$ Legal Services: In 2024, Frisco ISD paid Abernathy Law $40,851.93, in 2023 they paid $85,913.58.  We are curious, would it be a conflict of interest if the same law firm represented both the city and the School District?  Was the legal advice received around these “Public-Private Partnerships” that are sold to residents as success ventures. 

$$ Legal Services: In 2024, Frisco ISD paid Walsh Gallegos Kyle another law firm $411,336.57 and in 2023, $353,028.02.   Why does the district have two different law firms?  What kind of legal services is the district needing?

$$ Amazon: In 2024, the district spent $2,271,090.30 on “MISC SUPPLIES.”  That is slightly higher than the 2023 spend, which was $2,047,880.  That is a lot of Amazon!

$$ Dallas Physician Medical Services for Children:  In 2022, the district opened a medical clinic to provide FISD employees with free access to health and wellness.  As we know nothing is free!  In 2024 the district paid DPMSC $470,000 dollars, and in 2023 the district spent $472,000 dollars.   We are curious why they would partner with a medical service for children – when it is supposed to be for adult employees. 

$$ Blue Star Frisco EV:  In 2024, $457,915.28 for “Rentals”, in 2023 the district paid 359,028 dollars.  When the public-private partnership was announced for The Frisco Star residents were led to believe this was a good deal for the school district as they would have use of the facilities.  The city website reads “It houses Frisco ISD events such as football games, soccer games, marching band competitions, commencement exercises, and other similar events.”  Everyone failed to mention how much the district would pay for it each year on top of what the district paid for in the original agreement.

$$ City of Frisco (Contracted Services):  In 2024, the district paid the city $2,361,742.00 and back in 2023, they paid $2,135,134.56 dollars.  What contracted services cost that much?

$$ City of Frisco/Park (FISD Debt Payment): In 2024, the district paid $4,511,073.80 and back in 2023 they paid $5,678,818.38.   What is the district getting back from that? 

$$ Hilltop Holdings (Yearly Investment): In 2024, the district paid Hilltop Holdings $63,301 and in 2023 it was $81,017.98.  What is the yearly investment for? 

$$ GCS Trails of Frisco (Contracted Services):  Par for the course the city is paying for the use of the facilities for GOLF!  In 2024, the district paid $61,555.85 and then in 2023 they paid $54,893.94.  I thought the whole point of the PGA partnership was to have “USE OF THE FACILITIES” so why are we paying to rent facilities.

$$ Population & Survey (Demographics Survey): The most interesting expense was the 2024 payment for $115,700 for a survey.  Then we noticed in 2023 they paid $113,450.00 for another survey.  Why? For What?  We plan to file a PIR for the information.

The district’s website reads “OUR MISSION is to know every student by name and need.”  At Frisco Whistleblower our mission is to understand how the district spends its money and the need to ask us for more Bonds = More Taxes!  There were many more payments in the 2024 and 2023 General Fund Report that some may question.  While we wanted to highlight a few, we are still left with the question of what the point of the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ). If all we are doing is paying out on them then how are they beneficial? What are we getting back from these TIRZ if we now have to go and ask residents for another $1 Billion dollars?  Next up we will look at the 22/23/24 Capital Fund spending.  Until then, you can review the Financial Reports on the district’s website.  Lastly, look over the check registers as you might find some interesting things like we did.