FRISCO, Texas — When you walk up to Wilkinson Middle School in Frisco, someone is watching you every step of the way.
The district spent $3,000 per campus to expand a pilot program and install a new doorbell system at every school.
“The benefit you have, you’ve got controlled access now. You know who’s about to enter your building,” said Dr. Mike Waldrip, superintendent of Frisco ISD.
Like the Ring camera system, it allows staff to speak with someone outside, while watching the live video feed on a monitor at the front desk. It also allows them to put eyes on a potential threat, with enough time to sound the alarm.
“If you have a vendor or anyone who walks toward the door, they have to have a legitimate reason to be there,” Waldrip said.
Security is just one topic WFAA touched on in a wide-ranging interview with the superintendent, who had just come out of an emergency meeting with the Board of Trustees: “We were discussing the possibility of going out to our voters.” The Board recently adopted a deficit budget which includes a $1,200 raise for teachers, but leaves the district spending $24 million more than it takes in.
To exceed the maximum tax rate established by the state, Frisco ISD would have to call a special election and hope the voters approve.
“It could be for November, it could be for a year from now, it could be for later in the not-too-distant future,” Waldrip said.
The district is struggling with the costs.
“The price of everything has gone up for schools. So, we’re feeling the effects of inflation like everyone else, with no additional revenue,” he told WFAA.
The State hasn’t adjusted its per-pupil spending since 2019, a full year before the pandemic. So, Dr. Waldrip isn’t sure how Frisco ISD can comply with a new state law requiring an armed guard at every school.
“To afford something like that, we’d have to add to the deficit. But for us, we’re talking more like two-to-three-to-4-million dollars,” he said.
Waldrip told WFAA there’s no way local police departments have the manpower to supply another 40-plus School Resource Officers (SROs) for all the elementary schools. He said they would probably have to be some sort of a security guard, if they went that route. He also wonders about the vetting process for dozens of people spending all day with children as young as 5-years old.
“To find quality personnel with the training and characteristics you want, for someone that’s in an elementary school interacting with students and teachers, that’s gonna be a big order to fill,” Waldrip said.
Several Frisco ISD teachers told WFAA that behavior has become a major issue in their classrooms, and Dr. Waldrip acknowledged the problem.
“We’ve seen an increase in student behavior issues since the return from the pandemic,” Waldrip said.
Teachers told WFAA that when one student becomes physically disruptive, they’ve had to clear the classroom and move the others to different areas of the school. Waldrip told WFAA “those incidents do occur, but they’re very rare." He admits the district is still trying to find the right tactics to minimize disruptions. Waldrip said working with teachers and staff to better manage those kind of student behaviors is a priority for them this year.
Dr. Waldrip’s staff is also dealing with the fallout from the redesigned STAAR test, and the State delaying some results from last Spring. Normally, the district spends the whole summer looking at the data, evaluating it, and preparing for the students going into the Fall semester. But this year, Waldrip said they won’t get that data until students have already started the new school year.
“We’re as ready as we can be, we just need the reliable information,” he told WFAA.
The superintendent said ambiguity is not ideal when trying to overcome the learning loss from the pandemic:.
“Are we spending time trying to prepare kids for remediation when they don’t really need it? Or have we missed some kids, just not having that solid data,” Waldrip rhetorically asked.
Through it all, Frisco remains one of the most desirable school districts in Texas, if not the country. Waldrip said Frisco ISD has probably 20 to 25 campuses that are at functional capacity. Four others have reached "maximum capacity" and are now closed to new enrollees. That means anyone buying a home in-boundary for Nelson Middle School, Reedy High School, Wakeland High School or Lebanon Trail High School will be assigned to a different school.
“But the growth in Frisco has slowed considerably. I would say it’s probably 25% to 30% what it used to be. And it’s because we’re approaching buildout,” Waldrip said.
While the district will be steadily growing over the next 10 years, the days of adding 3,000 students a year are over, according to Waldrip. Frisco ISD may be providing a road map of sorts for Prosper, Celina and other areas experiencing their own explosive growth.
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